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Art Talk Live: Eyeglasses and Other Luxuries in a Late Chosŏn Screen Painting

Detail of a color painting showing folded eyeglasses next to a blue teacup, with a stack of books above and an embroidered glasses case, flowers, and fruits below.
Books and scholars’ accoutrements (ch’aekkŏri), Korea, Chosŏn dynasty, early 20th century. Eight-panel folding screen; ink and color on silk. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Acquired with a fund established by Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane for the purchase of Asian art and through the generosity of the Ralph C. Marcove International Understanding Through Arts and Crafts Foundation, Inc. and Christina Marcove, 2014.198.

Gallery Talk

Online

Join former fellow Yuhua Ding as she explores early 20th-century Korean paintings that include distinctly modern items and how those objects relate to knowledge and self-fashioning. Ch’aekkŏri is a unique Korean genre of still-life painting composed of assemblages of thread-bound books, antique vessels, writing implements, flowers, fruit, and other luxury items connoting refinement and auspiciousness.

The presence in these paintings of eyeglasses imported from Qing dynasty China suggests an important shift in collecting tastes toward the new and unconventional. It also signals a new mode of self-expression among Korean scholars of the late Chosŏn dynasty, as Korea was taking its first steps into the modern world.

Led by:
Yuhua Ding, Kemper Assistant Curator of Collections and Academic Affairs at the Davis Museum, Wellesley College; former Gregory and Maria Henderson Curatorial Fellow in East Asian Art, Harvard Art Museums

This talk is part of the series Fresh Perspectives, an initiative that centers the role of the museumgoer. Like talks in the ReFrame series, these programs highlight diverse voices and broad interpretations of difficult histories and untold narratives. This approach encourages visitors to consider alternative ways of understanding an object, culture, or theme.

This talk will take place online via Zoom. The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. To register, please complete this online form.

Please read these instructions on how to join a meeting on Zoom. For general questions about Art Talks, email am_register@harvard.edu.

Art Talks Live are presented via Zoom and offer an up-close look at works from our collections with our team of curators, conservators, fellows, and graduate students.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.