Page 415 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

K O R E A

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nobleman was famous for his collection of paint- pictorial surface, leaving the other half for the
attributed to An Kyon ings and calligraphies predominantly by Chinese representation of vast space. Such a composition,
±4i8-after 1464 artists of the Northern Song (960-1127) and Yuan combining dramatic verticality with equally dra-
(1279-1368) dynasties. An Kyon, the only Korean matic spatial recession, was widely adapted by
LANDSCAPE OF THE FOUR SEASONS painter honored by inclusion in this collection, Korean painters who followed An Kyon during the
therefore had the unusual opportunity of studying fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The fantastic
Korean
album leaves; ink on silk many Chinese paintings of the Northern Song's mountain forms, sparsely textured with wavering,
2
35.8 x 28.5 (i^/s x n /4J Li-Guo school and of the Yuan dynasty. He was threadlike brush strokes, tend to remain separate
also acquainted with contemporaneous Chinese pictorial entities rather than suggesting organic
National Museum of Korea, Seoul paintings of the Zhe school, rooted in the Ma-Xia mountain ranges. Their extremely exaggerated
school of the Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasty, outlines are rendered in short, twisting and turn-
Of the ten leaves of this album, attributed to which had been newly introduced to Korea. By ing brush strokes of variable width. Despite the
An Kyon, eight represent landscapes of the four synthesizing many styles of ancient masters both pictorial excitement created by energetic brush
seasons, a traditional theme popular during the Korean and Chinese, An Kyon created his own strokes and strong contrasts of light and dark, the
Choson period. By devoting two leaves to each style, which dominated Korean painting until the forms themselves seem weightless. These stylistic
season, the painter of this album was able to seventeenth century. features are also characteristic of An Kyon.
depict each season toward its beginning and Each of the landscapes in this album has a Each seasonal pair of album leaves is meant to
its close. clearly distinguished fore-, middle, and back- be viewed with the early phase of the season at
An Kyon, a gifted court painter, enjoyed the ground. The forms of mountains, trees, and build- the right and the late phase at the left. Viewed
patronage of Prince Anp'yong (1418-1453). That ings are massed along one vertical half of each thus, as a single composition, each pair comprises

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