Snowscape with Figures1584
This hanging scroll is a rare surviving example of early Joseon period painting. The painter Kim Si (1481–1537) was a member of the aristocracy, or high-ranking men. More about this work
About this work
This hanging scroll is a rare surviving example of early Joseon period painting. The painter Kim Si (1481–1537) was a member of the aristocracy, or high-ranking men. However, after his father, Kim Anro (1481–1537) fell out of power, Kim Si retreated himself and spent his life as a reclusive artist. In such a context, this image of a solitary scholar in his studio surrounded by trees and snow-covered mountains does not simply render an idealized life of a recluse focusing on scholarly pursuits; rather, it is the painter’s mindscape, indicating that the glory of his family has become a forgotten part of his past.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Hanging scroll
- A painting mounted on silk with a wooden roller at the foot. It was rolled up for storage and brought out to hang for a season, a guest or an occasion.
- Ink and colour on silk
- Silk was sized with glue and alum so it would hold a crisp brushline, and mineral colours were built up in thin layers. The sheen of the weave still shows through.
Kim Si
Korean, 1524–1593
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1987.187
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Korean Art
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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Close in colour
