'Gyeomjae Jeongseon' Exhibition at Hoam Art Museum Until June 29
Largest-Ever Showcase with 165 Works on Display
In Collaboration with Kansong Art Museum
The exhibition "Gyeomjae Jeongseon," honoring the master of 'Jingyeong Sansuhwa' (true-view landscape painting), Gyeomjae Jeongseon, will be held on the largest scale ever at the Hoam Art Museum in Yongin. Co-hosted by the Hoam Art Museum and the Kansong Art Museum, it welcomes visitors until June 29.
This exhibition was organized to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Samsung Cultural Foundation and the 350th anniversary of Jeongseon's birth in 2026. A total of 165 pieces from 18 institutions and private collections have been gathered in one place. It showcases Jeongseon's representative true-view landscape paintings, conceptual landscapes reflecting the spirit of the literati, historical figure paintings depicting stories of ancient sages, and bird-and-flower paintings.
The exhibition highlights the flow and significance of Jeongseon's true-view landscape paintings. Jeongseon notably left many depictions of Geumgangsan (Diamond Mountain) on canvas; while his early works meticulously portrayed the scenery, his later works increasingly featured omission and exaggeration techniques. Visitors can view works from the 1711 Geumgangsan travel album 'Sinmyonnyeon Pungakdojeop' to later masterpieces such as 'Geumgangjeondo' (National Treasure) and 'Inwangjesaekdo' (National Treasure). Due to the year-end overseas tour of the Lee Kun-hee Collection, 'Inwangjesaekdo' will be replaced on May 7 with 'Pungaknaesanchongram' (Treasure) for display.
Jeongseon's depictions of Hanyang (old Seoul) are also on display. 'Gyeonggyo Myeongseungjeop' is an album painted by Jeongseon in 1740 at age 65 when he was appointed magistrate of Yangcheon-hyeon (present-day Gayang-dong area in Seoul), capturing the splendid scenery of Seoul. Among them, 'Apgujeong' portrays the old appearance of the Apgujeong-dong area in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Jeongseon frequently depicted scenes near Hanyang, which Jo Ji-yoon, head of the Collections Research Department at the Leeum Museum of Art, explains: “Jeongseon was born and raised in Jangdong, near Cheongunhyoja-dong in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The fact that the Gyeonghwa aristocratic family who supported Jeongseon resided in Hanyang likely influenced this as well.”
The conceptual landscape painting 'Yeosan Chodang,' imagining the scenery of Mount Lushan in Jiangxi Province, China, also welcomes visitors. At that time, Yeosan was a place where the historian Sima Qian wrote the 'Records of the Grand Historian' during the Han dynasty, and where the Tang dynasty poet Bai Juyi resided. Jeongseon expressed Bai Juyi sitting in the thatched cottage, gazing at a pond with blooming white lotuses, using various colors. Jo said, “Jeongseon was an exceptionally skilled user of color and unusually used pink (on the railing of the thatched cottage) at that time. He can be regarded as a color magician of the Joseon Dynasty.”
'Gyesangjeonggeo (Toewoo Isunsaeng Jinjeokjeop),' depicting Toegye Yi Hwang's Dosan Seodang, is evaluated as a work emphasizing Jeongseon's connection with Yi Hwang and expressing family pride. Toewoo Isunsaeng Jinjeokjeop is a calligraphy and painting album combining writings by Yi Hwang and Song Si-yeol with paintings. Jo explained, “The preface written by Yi Hwang was passed down to his grandson Yi Ando, then to his maternal grandson Hong Yuhyeong, and later his son-in-law Park Jajin received it and showed it to Song Si-yeol, who wrote the postscript. This was likely intended to reveal the lineage from Yi Hwang to his maternal grandfather Park Jajin.”
This exhibition is a joint effort by the Hoam Art Museum and the Kansong Art Museum. In the second half of 2026, the exhibition will move to the Kansong Art Museum in Daegu to continue.
Related programs are also planned. On April 9, curator Jo, who planned the exhibition, will hold a curator talk from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Leeum Museum of Art auditorium. Lecture programs include Professor Jo In-su of the Korea National University of Arts Department of Art Theory on May 14, and Professor Lee Jong-mook of Seoul National University Department of Korean Language and Literature on June 11, both held at the Hoam Art Museum.
From Tuesday to Thursday, a free shuttle bus runs twice daily between the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul and the Hoam Art Museum in Yongin. Reservations can be made on the Hoam Art Museum website.
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