Korean History and Culture Seminar for American Educators Handbook 2017 NKS Seminar-Handbook-Final with Daniel | Page 50
Korean Art and Architecture
Until recently, very few Western museums, art historians or collectors have paid attention to the
art and culture of Korea, focusing more on China and Japan. In the art world, Korean art has
often been secondary to Chinese and Japanese, and museum displays reflect this, with Korean art
often relegated to small galleries, if shown at all. In the last 30 years or so, the interest in Korean
art and culture has increased really dramatically - both outside Korea and inside. Now, the
Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Musée Guimet
in Paris and the British Museum in London have substantial displays of Korean art. More books
provide information about the art and culture and colleges provide courses in Korean art history.
As we understand more about Korean art both in Korea and abroad, it becomes harder to explain
what makes Korean art uniquely Korean. Some scholars have pointed to Korean gray-green
celadons to suggest that the Korean aesthetic sensibility is one of restraint and austerity. How,
then, do we explain the elaborate gold crowns of the Silla kings, or the vivid costumes of
traditional dance-dramas, or the colorfully painted Buddhist temple s? Others, in particular
Japanese scholars, claim that Korean art is spontaneous and technically imperfect, citing Korean
folk paintings and irregular ceramic jars as examples. If that is the case, then, how do we account
for the lacquered boxes meticulously inlaid with mother-of-pearl and the ornate paintings
depicting Buddhist deities in fine silk and gold robes?
Korean art is as complex as that of any other culture. This slide lecture will present an overview
of some of the highlights of Korean art and architecture, including Three Kingdoms period burial
objects, the elegant celadons of the Goryeo period, paintings both religious and secular, lacquer
ware and textiles, with accompanying images of similar art forms from China and Japan for
comparison. It will also introduce several important examples of Korean architecture. The art
will span a period from the 6 th century AD to the present demonstrating that Korean art is not
just derived from Chinese art, as Westerners once believed. Although Korean culture, like
Japanese and other nearby cultures, has been heavily influenced by China, there has been such a
wide range of artistic productivity in Korea over the centuries — both religious and secular,
aristocratic and popular, foreign and indigenous, ephemeral and permanent — that it is
impossible to identify one single artistic style or aesthetic running through Korean art.
About speaker: Meher McArthur is an independent Asian art curator, author and educator. She
worked for nine years as Curator of East Asian Art at Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, where
she curated 15 exhibitions and several permanent galleries. Her most recent major exhibitions
have been with a traveling exhibitions company for whom she curated Folding Paper: The
Infinite Possibilities of Origami (2012-2016) and Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami,
(2015-2017). She lectures regularly at Southern California museums, and is currently Creative
Director for the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden in Pasadena. She has published many books,
such as Gods and Goblins, Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and
Symbols, The Arts of Asia: Materials, Techniques, Styles, a book titled Confucius, and two on
origami, including her latest New Expressions in Origami Art. Her children’s books are Michael
and the Magical Museum and An ABC of What Art Can Be.
She has received stellar evaluations every year she has lectured in our seminar programs. We are
fortunate to have her here once again during our seminar week.
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