Rocks and Orchids

A renowned calligrapher and a celebrated scholar-painter, Yun Yong-gu served as a respected court official under the last king of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). He left the public arena, and the notoriety it afforded him, upon the establishment of Japanese colonial rule over Korea in 1910, spending his final years in reclusion as a retired scholar-painter (see also Smart Museum acc. no. 2004.99). Yun preferred characteristic subjects of traditional literatus painting of the period—bamboo, orchids, and Chinese-style landscapes—and this monochrome ink painting depicts wild orchids blooming among desolate rocks. Because of its poignant subject, it was probably brushed during Yun’s later years of self-imposed political exile. High-minded scholar-painters in both China and Korea often depicted this theme as a symbol of virtuous action and loyalty in times of adversity. In literatus lore, the true Confucian gentleman resembles this pure, wild flower—its fragrance rivaled only by its solitary beauty in natural mountain and forest settings far from the seats of power and thus untainted by the pollution of political intrigue.