Pathways to Korean Culture

The Joseon Dynasty in Korea lasted over five centuries and saw the height of classical Korean culture, leaving a lasting imprint on the attitudes and traditions of Korea today. In Pathways to Korean Culture, Burglind Jungmann provides a survey of the important developments in Korean art and visual culture during the Joseon Dynasty and introduces Joseon painting to the wider world. In addition to discussing the more well-known ink paintings of the literati elite, Jungmann investigates the role of women as artists and patrons, the use of the ideals of Chinese antiquity for political purposes, and the role of painting in foreign exchange and as a means of escapism. She also explores the support of Buddhist products in a society governed by Confucian ideology and court projects done to document important events and decorate palaces. Jungmann unwraps the layers of personal, intellectual, aesthetic, religious, socio-political, and economic contexts within which these paintings are embedded, casting new light on the conditions of this period. Tying in with exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in June, 2014 and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in November, 2015, Pathways to Korean Culture fills an immense gap in the literature on this period of Korean art.