愛情의 誤謬: 鄭敾에 대한 평가와 서술의 문제

서지정보

ㆍ발행기관 : 한국미술연구소 ㆍ수록지정보 : 美術史論壇 / 33권
ㆍ저자명 : 장진성

영어 초록

Archival biographical accounts of a painter are neither objective nor reliable, as they are a mixture of facts, fictions, hearsays, and anecdotes. The painter’s monograph is one of the most popular forms of writing in modern art history. Most monographs follow the ‘life and work of a painter’ model. In addition to the unreliability of biographical accounts, arbitrary and extremely subjective perspectives of art historians often lead to misunderstanding the painter’s life and work. Chŏng Sŏn(1676-1759) is a case in point. He is one of the most eminent painters in late Joseon Korea(1392-1910) and is considered the founder of Korean true-view landscape painting, which explored the scenic beauty of the capital city of Hanyang, the Han River, the East Sea, and the famous Diamond Mountains. Departing from previous painting practices and traditional Chinese styles, he created a new type of painting celebrating the virtues of his native land. Ch’oe Wan-su’s monographs on Chŏng Sŏn have played a central role in creating the myth of the painter. Ch’oe has acclaimed Chŏng as a national hero who discovered the beauty of Korea and most successfully represented Koreanness in painting. According to Ch’oe, Chŏng’s true-view landscapes show his pride in native Korean nature and culture, embodying the essence of Koreanness. Chŏng Sŏn’s image, as formed by Ch’oe, is that of a lofty-minded and intellectual literati painter who aspired to visualize various aspects of true Koreanness in his landscapes. This ultra-nationalist approach has distorted our understanding of Chŏng as a painter and his daily practice. Chŏng Sŏn was born into a poor yangban family and, due to his extreme poverty, he chose the life of a professional painter over being a government official. He began his career as a local painter making commemorative paintings for his neighbors, most of whom were high-ranking court officials and members of powerful yangban families. Chŏng’s reputation as a painter gradually grew and he later rose to national prominence as a distinguished painter whose works were actively sought-after. His daily life was to deal with numerous commissions from patrons and clients. High-ranking officials, members of the yangban class, merchants, foreign language interpreters, and even commoners were his clients. Their commissions were overwhelming to the degree that Chŏng was not able to find time to eat and sleep. He used his son and his student as ghostpainters to handle the constant requests for his paintings. He also employed fast brushwork in the treatment of rocks, mountains, and trees in order to finish the requested paintings on time. This is the way in which he lived and worked as a professional painter. The image of Chŏng Sŏn as a hard-working, stressed, and fatigue-laden painter stands in strong contrast to that of the painter whom nationalist art historians have deemed a cultural celebrity. Their nationalist approach shows their personal affection towards the painter that is no more than a fallacy. They have used uncritically biographical accounts of Chŏng that were, in fact, exaggerated and embellished in writing about the life and work of the painter. The myth making of Chŏng Sŏn has had an enormous impact on the ways in which we understand and evaluate the painter’s artistic achievements. New perspectives and viewpoints are needed to gain a better understanding of the real Chŏng Sŏn.

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