Winter Landscape

Called in his day “the god of ink” Heo Ryeon studied under the foremost Joseon dynasty painter, calligrapher, and artistic critic of the 19th century, Chusa Kim Jeong-hui (1786–1856). Kim once praised Heo by declaring that “no artist living east of Amnok River comes close to him.” As this river divides China from the Korean Peninsula, Kim declared Heo Ryeon the greatest living Korean painter. Heo’s rough and sketchy manner of painting and the loose, yet calculated, strokes of the brush celebrate the art of calligraphy as much as they acknowledge the act of painting. In this idealized scene of a scholar viewing a wintry mountain setting from the shelter of his rustic studio, many elements embody Heo’s mature style—a deft use of the brush, the subtle tonality of black ink enhanced by light washes of color, and a forceful yet refined calligraphic inscription above the composition. The inscription matches one on a folding screen panel of similar subject, composition, and painting style by the artist in the National Museum of Korea: In the quiet mountains, no one is about. / Inquire about the whereabouts of / Lin Bu’s Dwelling. Here Heo evokes the famous recluse Lin Bu, a Chinese hermit of the Song dynasty (960–1279). In doing so he pays tribute to the scholarly dream of contemplative retirement in the countryside far away from government service and court politics.