Six Landscapes

This six-panel folding screen presents six individual landscape scenes. The landscapes reflect the so-called Orthodox style that became popular in China in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among such followers of Dong Qichang (1555-1636) as the so-called Four Wang--i.e., Wang Shimin (1592-1680), Wang Jian (1598-1677), Wang Hui (1632-1717), and Wang Yuanqi (1642-1715); the Orthodox style came to prominence in Korea in the nineteenth century, particularly in the works of Hŏ Ryŏn (1809-1892) and his followers. Each of this screen's landscapes presents a large mountain massed either in the center or at one side of the composition; each landscape affords a view into the far distance, just as each has a body of water--a lake or a wide river--at the bottom of the composition. Most of the landscapes include mountain pavilions, and the last one--i.e., the landscape at the viewer's left--includes a village nestled at the base of the distant mountains. The landscapes are done mainly in ink though a few sport touches of light color. The last landscape is a winter scene, so that the snow-covered mountains are rendered very schematically, and the cloudy skies are darker than the pristine mountains. The inscription, signature, and seals indicate that these paintings were done by Kim Chae-tŏk during the ninth lunar month of 1869. Though little documentation survives concerning his life, Kim Chae-tŏk is known to have lived in the nineteenth century. He is believed to have been a professional painter and likely was active in Kyŏngsang province, probably in Taegu or Andong. (In fact, Estate records suggest that Jerry Lee Musslewhite purchased this screen in Taegu, North Kyŏngsang province.) The style of these paintings is related to that of Kim Yong (born 1837), a well-known, nineteenth-century, Korean painter. Differing from Japanese traditional practice, in which two screens are paired to form a set, Korean screens generally are conceived as individual, stand-alone works rather than as pairs. And, unlike Japanese screens, which generally have six panels, Korean screens may have six, eight, ten, or even twelve panels. Whereas most Japanese pairs of screens boast a single, unified composition that spreads the full width of both screens, Korean screens may have a single, unified composition or they may have a series of individual compositions, one on each panel. This screen has just six panels, with one discrete painting on each panel. Jerry Lee Musslewhite, or the Korean dealer from whom he purchased it, had this screen remounted in Korea in the 1960s, so the mounting is new and clean and shows virtually no wear. Given that six is an unusual number of panels for a landscape screen and that the last scene is a winter scene, it is possible that the original screen might have had eight panels and that the screen's theme was landscapes of the four seasons, with two panels for each season. Since there are only six panels today and since the artist did not inscribe a title, we likely will never know the original number of panels or the exact subject (other than generic landscapes). Here it might be noted that the Estate of Jerry Lee Musslewhite included four additional landscapes by Kim Chae-tŏk, each framed and presented as a discrete painting. The paintings are very similar in subject matter, style, and composition to those in this screen; even the seals are virtually identical. It is unknown whether or not there is any connection between those four individual paintings and this screen.