Korean Art
During October I took a trip down to Washington D.C. to check out some of the museums located along the Mall.
First of all, I love D.C.! I always enjoyed taking trips there when I was young and now that I'm older I can look around an appreciate all of the beautiful buildings and such that I never really paid attention to before.
The first things I noticed this time around were the Greek Orders I could identify.
This photo is of the front of the Museum of Natural History. I was pretty excited to see some examples of the Corinthian Order.
The National Gallery of Art uses the Ionic Order for it's columns. The building is very beautiful. I wish there were more examples of this type of architecture back in Morgantown.
Well, on to the art!
At the Natural History Museum I got a chance to check out the new exhibit on Korea. It was interesting to see different types of art from a country whose art we rarely get a chance to see for ourselves. The painting above is titles Ten Symbols of Longevity. It depicts exactly that, the ten symbols of longevity that were commonly found in works of art from the Korean Joseon Dynasty. The work itself is actually from 2007.
Ten Symbols of Longevity:
- rocks
- water
- clouds
- sun
- pine trees
- turtles
- deer
- cranes
- bamboo
- fungus
Who would have thought fungus would be a symbol for something so positive?
Here we see two Korean Tomb Guardians. Made from granite, these are both from the 19th century. These guardians would have been placed near the grave site to ward off evil spirits from the ancestors. The statues were actually pretty large. I'd say they were about 4ft tall or so.
Here are a few more of the interesting pieces from the exhibit:
This picture is of a traditional Korean dress. When I look at it I can see similarities between the Korean dress, a traditional Chinese dress, and the Japanese Kimono. The Korean dress has the long sleeves that hand down off the forearms, similar the a kimono. The fabric itself of the Korean dress is similar to the silk used in a Chinese dress. Unlike the other two traditional dresses though, this Korean dress ties very high on the bust line, making it a unique Korean distinction.
These are two hair ornaments that would have been worn by a Korean woman.
This is a picture of the traditional outfit worn by a Koren male. It includes a hat and colored wrist guards.
Overall, I enjoyed the Korean exhibit. It was really neat to see the different pieces and compare them to similar works from Japan and China. I think it would be very nice if the Smithsonian could acquire more Korean works of art for the future.
D.C. was great. The museums were great. I'll post more next time :)
First of all, I love D.C.! I always enjoyed taking trips there when I was young and now that I'm older I can look around an appreciate all of the beautiful buildings and such that I never really paid attention to before.
The first things I noticed this time around were the Greek Orders I could identify.
This photo is of the front of the Museum of Natural History. I was pretty excited to see some examples of the Corinthian Order.
The National Gallery of Art uses the Ionic Order for it's columns. The building is very beautiful. I wish there were more examples of this type of architecture back in Morgantown.
Well, on to the art!
At the Natural History Museum I got a chance to check out the new exhibit on Korea. It was interesting to see different types of art from a country whose art we rarely get a chance to see for ourselves. The painting above is titles Ten Symbols of Longevity. It depicts exactly that, the ten symbols of longevity that were commonly found in works of art from the Korean Joseon Dynasty. The work itself is actually from 2007.
Ten Symbols of Longevity:
- rocks
- water
- clouds
- sun
- pine trees
- turtles
- deer
- cranes
- bamboo
- fungus
Who would have thought fungus would be a symbol for something so positive?
Here we see two Korean Tomb Guardians. Made from granite, these are both from the 19th century. These guardians would have been placed near the grave site to ward off evil spirits from the ancestors. The statues were actually pretty large. I'd say they were about 4ft tall or so.
Here are a few more of the interesting pieces from the exhibit:
This picture is of a traditional Korean dress. When I look at it I can see similarities between the Korean dress, a traditional Chinese dress, and the Japanese Kimono. The Korean dress has the long sleeves that hand down off the forearms, similar the a kimono. The fabric itself of the Korean dress is similar to the silk used in a Chinese dress. Unlike the other two traditional dresses though, this Korean dress ties very high on the bust line, making it a unique Korean distinction.
These are two hair ornaments that would have been worn by a Korean woman.
This is a picture of the traditional outfit worn by a Koren male. It includes a hat and colored wrist guards.
Overall, I enjoyed the Korean exhibit. It was really neat to see the different pieces and compare them to similar works from Japan and China. I think it would be very nice if the Smithsonian could acquire more Korean works of art for the future.
D.C. was great. The museums were great. I'll post more next time :)