Geumgang jeondo

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Geumgang jeondo (General View of Mt. Geumgansan or The Diamond Mountains)
Jeong Seon, 1734
Ink and light colors on paper
130.7 × 94.1 cm
Ho-Am Art Museum

Geumgang jeondo (금강전도 金剛全圖) is a famous landscape painted by Jeong Seon during the reign of King Yeongjo. The title literally means "General view of Mt. Geumgangsan" or The Diamond Mountains).^[1] It was classified as the 217th National Treasure of South Korea on August 6, 1984. The painting is currently held and managed by the Ho-Am Art Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province and is owned by Lee Kun-hee.

While many contemporaneous painters imitated the latest art trends imported from China, Jeong Seon ignored these to create unique themes based on Korean landscapes. His catalogue of paintings of Geumgansan made him famous and the preeminent painter of his time at the age of 37. He eventually painted around 100 images of the mountains which still exist to this day. The artist’s love of the mountains influenced other artists to depict the Diamond Mountains and even encouraged mapmakers to make maps of the area.

Although Jeong Seon made many paintings of Mt. Geumgangsan, this painting is the largest and considered his best. Like many of his paintings, Jeong Seon painted this landscape while actually viewing the mountains. The painting is 130.7 centimeters in height and 94.1 centimeters in width. It is painted with India ink. The painting is of Naegeumgang, the Inner Mt. Geumgangsan. The painting depicts a total of twelve thousand peaks. The highest peak, Birobong, lies in the background and water flows from it toward a valley called Manpokdong which is divided from the left and right. The high sharp peaks are depicted by the artist with lines painted up and down while the artist used a dotting brush method to depict the earthen peaks, making them appear relatively soft and lush. This composition harmonizes the contrasting sharp edges of the rocky peaks with the softer earthen peaks.

The painter included the title of the painting, some comments, and his pen name, Gyeomjae, in the upper right hand corner. The inscription also dates the painting to 1734 when Jeong Seon was 59 years old. The artist’s comments reads:

Even if you visit the mountain yourself and tread on its every nook and cranny, how can your joy be compared with what you feel upon viewing this picture from your bedside?