Abstract
In 1788, Kang Sehwang (姜世晃, 1713~1791) criticized Jeong Seon (鄭敾, 1676~ 1759), one of the most renowned painters of Diamond Mountain (Mount Geumgang 金剛山), for not depicting its ‘true aspects’ and he displayed the desire to surpass Jeong Seon’s achievement in the painting of Diamond Mountain. BR This paper investigates Topographical Landscape Paintings from Kang’s oeuvre and specifically discusses how he expressed his artistic desire in the case of Pigeumjeong-do (披襟亭圖). The painting, which was executed in 1789, features the Pigeum Pavilion located on the way to the Geumgang mountain range and is one of the most monumental paintings among his artworks. In his earlier representations of landscapes, Kang tried to accurately depict the visible characteristics of the scenery and explored approaches for reproducing his visual experience in painting. In Songdo Gihaengcheop (松都紀行帖) of 1757, a set of topographical paintings of Kaeseong (開城, present North Korea), Kang introduces new techniques from Western art, e.g. linear perspective and shading technique, creating a highly three-dimensional effect. His interest toward this kind of landscape painting persisted for more than 30 years, including the period when he officially ceased any painting activities.BR But Pigeumjeong-do displays that by 1789, Kang was no longer interested in an accurate representation of the external world. Pigeumjeong-do’s main mountain ascends in the middle of the painting, repeatedly opening and closing, rising up and down, and receding into indefinite space. The depiction of the mountain in this manner is based on Dragon Veins (yongmaek 龍脈; Chin. long mai), a traditional concept of Chinese landscape painting originating in fengshui geomantic theory (pungsu jiri, 風水地理). Dragon Veins is a method of artistically expressing the vital energy of nature. Eminent Chinese literati painters like Huang Gongwang, Dong Qichang, and Wang Yuanqi incorporated the Dragon Veins concept into their artworks and turned the concept into one of the traits of literati landscape painting. In conclusion, after travelling to Mount Geumgang in 1788, Kang Sehwang adopted this manner of Chinese literati painters and implemented it in his Topographical Landscape Painting in order to capture the innate power of nature with his brushwork.
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