Between Tradition and Modernity

The collections of the Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum) and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Asian Art Museum) have a number of Korean hanging scrolls, screens, oil paintings and textile paintings that are to be presented to the public for the first time.

An eight-part folding screen with grapevines from the 18th century, the late Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), a landscape painting in the traditional style of scholar paintings from the 19th century and a modern-looking hanging scroll entitled “Sailboat in the Marsh” from around 1900 provide an introduction to the genre of paintings in the Joseon period. They serve as examples of the country’s traditional painting style.

A selection of around 12 works from the 20th century illustrates how this genre developed in the 20th century. Works from the early 20th century, but also paintings and textile paintings from the period after the division of Korea, show a return to and continuation of traditional themes as well as new tendencies in painting that result from an exchange with the West.

A temporary presentation of the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin