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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1980.95
People
Kim Sik [Gim Sik], Korean (active mid 17th century)
Title
Two Wagtails on Streamside Rocks amidst Blossoming Pinks
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
album leaf, painting
Date
mid 17th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Korea
Period
Chosŏn dynasty, 1392-1910
Culture
Korean
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/201853

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Album leaf; ink on medium gray paper flecked with gold
Dimensions
painting proper: H. 26.2 x W. 21.2 cm (10 5/16 x 8 3/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Nelson Goodman (1906-1998), Newton, MA (by 1980), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1980.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nelson Goodman
Accession Year
1980
Object Number
1980.95
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
A title slip mounted under the silk-covered mat attributes this painting to Kim Sik, a statement that accords with the impressed seals. Skilled at landscape depictions but best known for his representations of oxen, Kim Sik came from a prominent family of painters and was the grandnephew of Kim Che (active 1540), one of sixteenth-century Korea's most famous painters of birds and flowers. The genre of bird-and-flower painting arose in China during the Northern Song period (960-1127) and remained popular through succeeding dynasties; it spread to Korea early in the Chosŏn (1392-1911) dynasty and to Japan in the Muromachi period (1392-1568). Chinese painters tended to depict birds in color, while Korean and Japanese artists preferred to render them in monochrome ink. The hard-edged washes used to portray the birds and blossoming pinks in this leaf attests to Kim Sik's mastery of brush and ink. Native to China, pinks appear only occasionally in Chinese paintings; by contrast, they occur with some frequency in Korean and Japanese works. Gold-flecked paper enjoyed a measure of popularity among Chinese literati artists of the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) periods; it sparked interest among Korean painters of the mid-Chosŏn period and claimed widespread popularity by the nineteenth century. Although they had employed a variety of decorated papers at least since Heian times (794-1185), Japanese artists seldom used this type of lightly flecked paper. Only occasionally used by Chinese painters, tinted papers enjoyed a vogue in Korea throughout the Chosŏn dynasty. Such colored papers seldom were dyed during manufacture; rather, they were tinted with ink washes--generally pale gray or blue--after manufacture but before painting.

Exhibition History

  • The Arts of Korea, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 07/11/1992 - 01/31/1993
  • Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Bamboo: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 07/06/2002 - 01/05/2003

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu