Page 146 - Bonhams Auction NYC Japanese and Korean Art March 15, 2017

6310
ATTRIBUTED TO SIN HAGGWEON신학권 申學權
(DOAM도암 陶菴, 1785-1866)
Geumgang naesan chongdo 金剛内剛揔圖 (A General View of Inner
Diamond Mountain)
Korea, Jeoson dynasty (1392–1897), circa 1850
Folding screen mounted on a panel, ink and slight colors on paper,
with four seals Doam 陶菴
With two inscriptions as follows:
金剛內山總圖
華人詩曰：願生高麗國，一見金剛山。餘以東[]人居， 六七百年，至
四五十，尚未得見。蓋以將老，不能（閱）月遠離故也。既未得足躡
其境，常欲想見。枋彿於畫中，而諸帖各異，未知其同不同。大赤坡
詩所云：橫看成嶺側成峰。到處看山各異容者耶。（雄?）言魚 齋鄭
元伯*所寫，為諸家，（玖）散在人家，其運筆於雲嵐扶[]之巾，而釣
得佳境，遠近向背瞭然在目。餘愛而不能捨。始知其我東，妙手獨步
於眾中者也，惜其年久漫漶，終歸於澌盡，故乃以新紙摹之。揮灑已
畢，釋觚環視，其真真奇奇 ，[]鬼矢，人奪目，恍惚有若變幻於俄頃
之間。畫亦然矣，況其真乎，無乃化翁之有意用力於融結之初，而現
出琉瑞，千萬諸佛於滄渤之東，而飛仙之所窟宅，靈物之所藏悔者
歟。然則其天慳地秘，神剜鬼（削/刻 []）之妙，雖巧於摸寫者，豈得
形容於萬一也哉！
A Chinese poem once read: [I] wish I could have been born in Korea
so that I could see Mt. Kumgang. I live in the east [of China], (six
hundred or seven hundred years), I am in my 50s, but I have still not
seen Mt. Kumgang. As I continue to get older, I am no longer able
to travel far. Because I've never been able to set foot there, I have
always wanted to see it. As for the paintings [of the subject], each
one is different; I don't know if they are faithful or not. Su Dongpo's
poem says 'Look horizontally, they're mountain ranges; vertically, they
appear to be precipitous peaks'. Mountains viewed from different
locations show different contours. There is a painting of Mt. Kumgang
by Jeong Seon. It has been at my home for a while. The brushwork
is superb. I like it very much and cannot put it down. By viewing
Jeong Seon's painting, I learned that he is exceptional among many
painters [in Korea]. However, the painting is old and in poor condition; (one of which seems to be referenced in the inscription on the present
eventually it will be gone. Therefore, I copied the painting onto new
paper. After finishing it and putting down my drink, [I] looked around
[and started to see] forms that were at once real and fantastical:
spirits and men flashed before my eyes, as if everything had suddenly
changed. The painting also transformed, ..... Was this not God's
intention when he created the world? Bringing auspicious things into
existence - thousands of Buddhas appearing on the east of the ocean,
immortals living in those caves? However, heaven is secluded and the
earth is secret. The wonder the gods and ghosts have created, even
though one might be good at depicting it, one cannot come close to
describing one one-thousandth of what nature is.
And:
又茲山，或名楓岳。前人所詠，五夜虛明長，欲曙四時，寥落 （稀
少）易為秋是也。然此帖攬取時景，乃在春夏之交。蒼翠如滴者何
也？(几)遊間之，士陟遐冥。搜者多在日長少年之時也。觀是帖者常
作此（看[]）。
144 | BONHAMS
This so-called mountain, also called Mt. Maple, [about which] earlier
poets wrote: .... 'night is quiet and long, approaching the early
morning, [few leaves left], turning into autumn now'. However, this
painting depicts a view of the moment of the transition from Spring to
Summer. Why does it seem so green? When [I] travel in the mountains,
the climb seems dark.
18 1/2 x 92in (47 x 233.7cm)
US$150,000 - 250,000
For a similar painting attributed to the same artist, compare an eight-
panel screen of Mount Geumgang in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum
of Art, University of Oregon, reproduced in Ilmin Museum of Art일민
미술관, 夢游 金剛 : 그림 으로 보는 금강산 300년 (Art of Kumgang: From
18th Century to 20th Century in Korean Art), Seoul, 1999, cat. no. 20.
Since early times Geumgangsan (Kumgangsan, Diamond or
Thunderbolt Mountain), a 5,374-foot peak just north of the
demilitarized zone on the peninsula's east coast, has been regarded
as a national symbol, admired for its spectacular scenery of more
than 12,000 stone formations of weathered granite and diorite. The
mountain's name varies with the seasons, Geumgang being its
spring name; in summer it is known as Pongraesan 봉래산 蓬萊山,
in reference to Penglai, the imaginary island of Chinese mythology, a
place where spirits dwell. Geumgangsan has been celebrated in poetry
throughout Korean history and became a favorite subject for painting
during the eighteenth century thanks in large part to Jeong Seon
정선 鄭敾 (Chong Son, 1676-1759), (see lot00), whose most famous
version of Geumgangsan (1734) is registered as Korean National
Treasure # 217 and preserved in the Ho-Am Museum. Like the
painting here, Jeong's painting shows Naegeumgang (Inner Diamond
Mountain), usually considered the most picturesque part of the entire
region, and is celebrated as an example of the artist's distinctive
style, liberated from undue Chinese influence, based on plein-air
observation, and characterized by strong contrasts of light and shade.
Jeong is said to have executed some hundred versions of the view,
lot), and even though he seems to have had no formal pupils, both
his choice of subject—one of the key images of Korean nationalism—
and his style influenced generations of Korean artists, including Sin
Haggweon who here follows his predecessor's semi-topographical
approach (including labels for some of the more celebrated peaks)
and extensive use of dots to depict vegetation, a distant echo of the
Chinese master Mi Fei (1052-1107). These large-scale compositions
were intended almost as a substitute for a real visit: as Jeong Seon
put it in an inscription on his 1734 masterwork, "Even if you visit the
mountain yourself and tread its every nook and cranny, how can your
joy be compared with what you feel upon viewing this picture at your
bedside?"
As a distinguished later depiction of the country's most iconic
painting subject, from the hand of a documented artist, this view of
Geumgangsan would be a significant addition to any serious collection
of Korean painting.