[겸재정선] 국립중앙박물관에서 전시 시작!

지갑에서 천 원 한 장을 꺼내서, 뒤집어보세요.

산수화가 있죠?!

겸재정선의 그림이랍니다 ^.^

원본은 현재 전시중!

 

Jeong Seon's paintings on show

Did you ever wonder who painted the landscape on the back of the 1,000 won note?

It was legendary Joseon artist Jeong Seon (1675-1759).

To see more of his paintings, visit The National Museum of Korea in Ichon-dong, Seoul. A special exhibition to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Jeong Seon's death is currently underway, titled "The Life and Paintings of Jeong Seon."

Jeong, also known by his pen name Gyeomjae, was one of the first Korean artists that initiated Korean style paintings, departed from Chinese styles.

"Jeong Seon's works date from his age 36 to 82. We can see what a hard-working artist he was, as his friend Jo Young-seok - also a great Joseon artist - had said 'if we collect all the brushes Jeong Seon had used during his lifetime, it would fill a giant tomb,'" said exhibition curator Lee Su-mi.

Including the piece "Hermit Living by a River," which is the one printed on the back of the 1,000 won note and is designated as a treasure, more than 140 pieces of Jeong's work are displayed at the exhibition.

The artist is most famous for his Korean true-view landscape series. He enjoyed traveling, and did a lot of paintings in the mountains and valleys throughout Korea.

Visitors can find Jeong's beautiful landscape paintings of Hanyang, which was Seoul's ancient name, and Geumgangsan.

Maps of Hanyang and Geumgangsan, which point out the spots where the artist painted, are prepared by the museum and on display among the works.

A noticeable thing about this exhibition is that Jeong's "Album of Banquet for the Elderly in the Bugwon Garden," which he painted in 1716, is on public display for the first time.

"The piece is very important because we can guess the time's cultural and social events through it. Even all the participants of the banquet are depicted closely. It is also a monumental work for the artist himself because it painted the year he first became a government official," Lee said.

The exhibition runs through Nov. 22 in the Fine Arts Gallery in the National Museum of Korea in Ichon-dong, central Seoul. The museum is located near Ichon Subway Station, line 4, exit 2. For more information, visit www.museum.go.kr or call (02) 2077-9000.

(claire@heraldm.com)

By Park Min-young