ISSN : 1229-0076
Cho Sok (1595-1668) remains an unmatched bird painter in ink of literati background from the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Today, over 57 paintings in private and public collections around the world bear the seal of his penname, Changgang. This article focuses on two newly surfaced wagtail paintings in ink in San Francisco, arguing that such depictions of solitary birds in ink actually form the mainstream of his bird paintings. While positioning them within the stylistic and iconographic framework of his known works, it also explores their possible meaning through the psychological lens of the artist and the historical context of the period. A witness to the major historical events in seventeenth-century Korea, one of the most tumultuous times in Korean history noted for factional politics and foreign invasions under the shifting paradigms of the East Asian world order, his bird paintings encapsulate, as symbols of his unspoken words, the abiding ideals of a disheartened Neo-Confucian scholar.
Ahn, Hwi-joon 安輝濬. 1983. Hanguk hoehwasa 韓國繪畵史 [The History of Korean Painting]. Seoul: Ilji-sa.
Cheongnok sansu [Dreaming of Paradise]. 2006. Seoul: National Museum of Korea.
Choe, Sunu. 崔淳雨. 1994. Muryang sujeon baeheullim gidung e gidaeseoseo [Standing Leaning Against the Columns of Muryang sujeon]. Seoul: Hakgojae.
Choi, Woo-Young. 2002. “The Public Spirit of Sarim Politics in the Mid-Joseon Period: Its Ideology, Structure, and Change.” PhD diss., Yonsei University.
Gim, Jihye. 1997. “Heoju I Jing ui sumuk yeongmohwa” 虛舟 李澄의 水墨翎毛畵 [Bird-and-Flower Paintings in Ink by Heoju I Jing]. Misulsa yeongu 美術史硏究 11: 36-42.
I, Eun-gyeong. 1999. Changgang Jo Sok ui hoehwa 滄江 趙涑의 繪畵 [Paintings by Changgang Jo Sok]. MA diss., Ewha Womans University.
I, Wonbok. 1991. “Joseon junggi sagye yeongmodo go” 朝鮮中期 四季 翎毛圖考 [Mid- Joseon Dynasty Bird Paintings of the Four Seasons]. Misul jaryo 美術資料 47: 60.
I, Wonbok. 1997. “Jo Sok ui yeongmo-do” 趙涑의 翎毛圖 [Bird Paintings by Jo Sok]. Hanguk komisul 韓國 古美術5: 48.
I, Wonbok. 2008. “Changgang Jo Sok ui yesul segye” [The Artistic World of Changgang Jo Sok]. In Gimje, Jeonbuk ui yeoksa munmuljeon VIII, edited by Jellabukdo National Museum, 218-30. Jellabukdo: Jeollabukdo National Museum.
Jang, Jiseong. 2015. “Jo Sok ui Nosuseojak gwa Gomeseojak e daehan yangsikjeok bigyo gochal” [A Comparative Stylistic Study of Magpies Resting on an Old Tree and Magpie on Plum Branch]. Dongak misul sahak 東岳美術史學 18: 67-94.
O, Sechang 吳世昌. 1928. Geunyeok seohwajing 槿域書畵徵 [Literary Evidence for Korean Painting and Calligraphy]. Seoul: Gyemyeong gurakbu.
O, Sechang 吳世昌. 1968. Geunyeok insu 槿域印藪 [Collection of Korean Seals]. Seoul: Gukhoe doseogwan.
Pungyang Jossi serok 豊壤趙氏世祿 [Recorded Writings by the Pungyang Jo Clan]. 1981. Seoul: Pungyang Jossi hwasuhoe 豊壤趙氏花樹會.
Wagner, Edward W. 1974. The Literary Purges: Political Conflict in Early Yi Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard East Asian Monographs.
Wagner, Edward W., and Edward J. Shultz. 1984. A New History of Korea. Translated by Ki-baik Lee. Seoul: Iljogak.
Wang ui geul i itneun geurim [Paintings with Royal Colophons]. 2008. Seoul: National Museum of Korea.