Seoul Now

Americans have made efforts to collect Chinese paintings mainly by academically trained Asian art experts. One of the first places to emerge as the center for collecting after World War II was the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas city and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The second American museum that also built a great collection of Chinese paintings was led by Sherman Lee (1918-2008), a trained art historian who had served in the Pacific MFAA(Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives) division of the US Army. He also had worked as a curator at the Seattle Art Museum. Thanks to the pioneers,...

Ukiyo-e as a genre of Japanese art: wood block prints in particular. Ukio-e can be seen as a style of art, a painting or making prints. The key is chic sensuality. Fantasy and play are important elements. Ukiyo-e depicts "the floating world" in a word. The view of floating world has been known for its engaging and beautiful subject matter. Ukio-e depicts fascinating but fleeting world of people, things, and the nature.  Ukiyo-e developed in Edo (now Tokyo) in the Tokugawa period (1615-1868). The sheer force of physical beauty and captivating subject matter - exquisite courtesans, stunning landscapes, the baroque...

  Chaekgeori, a unique Korean form of still-life painting, began in the late eighteenth century. Chaekgeori is usually a large multipanel folding screen that comes in varying styles, represents an uncharacteristic break from traditional forms of Korean painting. The focus on the human object interaction of books situates books not as a mere objects but rather provides the fuller understanding of books in Chaekgeori.  While the exact origins of chaekgeori is not confirmed, Jeongjo, the king of Joseon dynasty in the eighteenth century, established Gyujanggak, the royal library, and commissioned chaekgeori to decorate his office at Changdeokgung palace.  His fondness of Chaekgeori played a...