Wild Geese and Reeds

Little is known about the life of the painter of this screen, except that he worked as a professional painter for the provincial Joseon court in present-day Pyeongyang. The overall composition, individual details, and loose brushwork of this screen recall those by another member of the Royal Bureau of Painting, Yang Gi-hun, the celebrated 19th-century “Wild Geese and Reed” painter who was also active in Pyeongyang. The subject of wild geese in spirited interaction among blowing reeds alongside the banks of a river or lake derives from the celebrated theme of painting and poetry known as the “Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers”—formulated in China during the 11th century and popular in Korea since the 15th century. Works based on the “Eight Views” extolled the beauty and melancholy of the mountains, rivers, and marshes of a remote region of China, favored by scholars as a place of retreat, reclusion, and on occasion, exile from the imperial court. Korean artists gave a unique interpretation to “Wild Geese and Reed” imagery in the 19th century. The Sino-Korean title assigned to some works—Noan—has a double meaning: the first character (no) can mean either “reed” or “old,” and the second character (an) can be translated either as “geese” or “comfort.” For this reason, some late Joseon paintings of this type have been documented as gifts to retiring government officials—the auspicious visualizations of goodwill and the hope for a leisurely old age given to departing friends.