Harvard Art Museums > 2001.72: Orchids and Rocks Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Orchids and Rocks (Yi Ha-ŭng (also known as Taewŏn’gun)) , 2001.72,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 24, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/173594. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2001.72 People Yi Ha-ŭng (also known as Taewŏn’gun), Korean (1820 - 1898) Title Orchids and Rocks Classification Paintings Work Type painting, screen Date dated early autumn 1892 Places Creation Place: East Asia, Korea Period Chosŏn dynasty, 1392-1910 Culture Korean Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/173594 Physical Descriptions Medium Ten-panel folding screen; ink on silk; with signature reading "Sŏk-p’a ch’il-ship-sam-se no-in chak" [Done by the seventy three year old man Sŏk-p’a]; with seals of the artist reading "Taewŏnkun chang" and "Sŏkp’a" following the signature Dimensions paintings proper: H. 145.5 x W. 29 cm (57 5/16 x 11 7/16 in.) screen mounting: H. 225 x W. 459.6 cm (88 9/16 x 180 15/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks Signed: artist's signature and seals Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Kang Collection, New York (2001)] sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2001. State, Edition, Standard Reference Number Edition #081 Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art and David Berg, Esq., Bequest Fund Accession Year 2001 Object Number 2001.72 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description A royal prince, Yi Ha-ŭng was the father of King Ko-chong (r. 1864-1906), the last king of the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910). In addition to being an enlightened statesman, Yi was an accomplished painter and calligrapher who was unsurpassed in his mastery of orchid painting. Frequently depicted in literati paintings alongside rocks and boulders, the orchid appears graceful, elegant, and unaffected by its rough surroundings. The orchids and rocks in Yi's paintings typically enter the composition at dramatic angles and generally occupy only one corner or one side of a composition. Korean folding screens often have six panels, like those painted in Japan; more characteristically, however, Korean screens boast eight, ten, or even twelve panels. In some cases, a Korean screen may feature a single, unified composition that spreads across all its panels; in other instances--such as this one--each panel is conceived as an individual painting. The ten separate paintings that compose this screen are grouped in four pairs, with an individual composition mounted on the first and last panels of the screen. Each of the four pairs in the middle can be read as a single composition or as two separate paintings. Such visual double entendres held a special allure for Korean literati artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This screen's large size and its royal authorship indicate that it was painted for one of the royal palaces. Each painting bears a personal seal of the artist, rather than a seal with the artist's name or sobriquet. For example, the seal in the lower right corner of the ninth panel (second from the left) translates into the aphorism "The best time to view a flower is when it is half open." The other nine personal seal impressions vary from idiomatic phrases to humorous remarks on Daoism and Buddhism. In the very last panel at the far left, however, Yi Ha-ŭng signs and impresses two of his artist's seals to the painting, making the authorship of this important screen indisputable. His inscription translates as, "Done by the seventy-three-year-old old man Sŏk-p'a in the early autumn of 1892." Publication History Kim Chŏng-suk, Hŭng-sŏn Tae-wŏn-kun: Yi Ha-ŭng ŭi Ye-sul se kye [Hŭng-sŏn Tae-wŏn-kun: The Art of Yi Ha-ŭng], Il-chi-sa (Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2004), pp. 226-229, fig. 61; p. 312, fig. 84 (detail); p. 453, no. 94; p. 487, no. 61 Exhibition History Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Bamboo: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 07/06/2002 - 01/05/2003 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/07/2017 - 06/01/2018 Subjects and Contexts Collection Highlights Google Art Project Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
