Shin Yun-bok Painting Returned from Japan After 200 Years, Stolen 4 Years Ago

Stored in a picture box in the form of a footrest
Recognized theft in January 2020
Recently reported the painting theft through Jongno District Office

A report has been made that a painting by Hye-won Shin Yun-bok (1758~?), which had returned to Korea from Japan after about 197 years, has gone missing.

'Gosainmuldos' (Scenes of Historical Figures) painted by Shin Yunbok, a representative genre painter of the late Joseon period.
[Image source=Huam Future Research Institute]

On the 17th, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced that the Huam Future Research Institute, a non-profit organization that owned Shin Yun-bok's "Gosainmuldoh" (Stories of Historical Figures), recently filed a report of the painting's theft with the Jongno District Office in Seoul. The institute estimates that the painting was stolen sometime between December 2019 and January 2020. The institute stated, "The painting, in the form of a scroll, was rolled up and stored in a paulownia wood box, but during the office cleanup in January 2020, it was confirmed that the artwork was missing." Although the institute requested a police investigation, due to a lack of clear evidence during the investigation and concerns that they might be countersued by the suspected thief, they withdrew the case and ultimately failed to locate the painting.

About four years after the estimated time of theft, they recently filed the theft report through the Jongno District Office, and the Cultural Heritage Administration announced this fact through the website "Stolen National Heritage Information." It is said that this will at least prevent illegal trading. The Cultural Heritage Administration plans to check the antique art market and trading circles and verify any information related to the painting through tips.

"Gosainmuldoh" refers to paintings themed on anecdotes involving figures from mythology or history. It depicts the story of "Chiljongchilgeum" (Seven Captures and Seven Releases), where Zhuge Liang captured the king of the Southern Man country, Meng Huo, seven times and released him each time before making him a loyal subordinate. At the top of the painting, there is an inscription that reads, "Even the ghost-like soldiers could not help but obey his orders in the end. I do not know what orders he is giving now, but I can tell that this person's virtue is very high," along with a handwritten note saying, "Painted by Hye-won of Joseon." The painting is praised for its delicate depiction of figures and the expression of the folding screen, combined with bright coloring, fully demonstrating the traditional techniques of realistic genre painting. This painting by Shin Yun-bok, a representative genre painter of the late Joseon period, is believed to have been brought to Japan during the last Joseon Tongsinsa (diplomatic mission) dispatched in 1811. The Cultural Heritage Administration explained, "In 2008, an individual purchased it from a Japanese collector, and it returned to Korea from Japan after 197 years."

This painting was also displayed at the "Joseon Tongsinsa Seen Through Paintings" exhibition held at the National Palace Museum in 2015. At that time, the museum introduced it as "It appears that Pi Jong-jeong, a maternal relative of Shin Yun-bok, requested Shin Yun-bok to paint it and then took it to Japan," and described it as "one of the representative paintings that traveled back and forth between the two countries through the Joseon Tongsinsa."