Chaekgeori: The Power and Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screen

Edited by Byungmo Chung and Sunglim Kim

Essays by Sunglim Kim and Joy Kenseth, Kris Imants Ercums, Ja Won Lee, Sooa McCormick, Byungmo, Chung, and Jinyoung Jin

Chaekgeori explores the genre of Korean still-life painting known as chaekgeori (loosely translated as “books and things”). Encouraged and popularized by King Jeongjo (1752–1800, r. 1776–1800) as a political tool to promote Korean cultural norms against an influx of ideas from abroad, chaekgeori was one of the most enduring and prolific art forms of Korea’s Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). It depicts books and other material commodities as symbolic embodiments of knowledge, power, and social reform. 

249 pages

Published 2017