A single object—a beautiful gilt wood sculpture of Gwaneum, the bodhisattva of compassion and the most popular deity in Korean Buddhism—is the focus of this loan exhibition from the National Museum of Korea. Carved in the late Goryeo period (918–1392), this crowned image is now known to be the oldest surviving gilded wood figure in …
Introduction | Images | 16th Century Textual References | Glossary
Ceramics have always been an integral part of Korean culture and an important vehicle of the Korean aesthetic. The Korean ceramics on view were made between 200 and 1900, and range from tableware and Buddhist cinerary urns made for courtiers to bowls, bottles and storage jars used by peasants. Despite great differences of age and …
Gallery 14 Today we admire the translucent gray-green celadon glaze on Korean ceramics of the Goryeo period as one of the great achievements of world potters. It is startling to realize that once this ware was all but forgotten. In Korea a millennium ago tastes changed. Other styles of ceramics replaced celadon in temples, palaces, …
The power of seeing: to discern, distinguish, define. The power of owning: to possess, to share, to transmit. The power of naming: to designate, to define, to give meaning. The power of displaying: to show, to ornament, to enrobe. The power of writing: to describe, to record, to remember. Japanese collectors have long engaged with …
Now numbering less than 150 worldwide, Buddhist paintings created during the late Goryeo dynasty in Korea illustrate hopes for peace and good fortune in this world and for salvation in the afterlife. These fourteenth-century images, commissioned as a show of religious merit and produced on an intimate scale appropriate for private devotional use, epitomize a …
The Freer’s Korean gallery reopens with an exhibition embodying the evolution of the distinctive Korean ceramic decoration known as sanggam. Originally, sanggam involved inlaying white and black pigments into stamped or carved motifs to create images of cranes, clouds, ducks, lotuses, and willows that appear to float within a limpid green glaze. This technique appeared …
Through photography and video, Yeondoo Jung, who was born in Jinju, Korea, in 1969, invites viewers into the dreams and memories of others. In two new video works, including a multi-screen installation, anonymous strangers are filmed as they recall moments in their lives. While they share their stories of past loves, youthful ambitions, hardship, and …