Sin Yunbok


Sin Yunbok, better known by his art name Hyewŏn, was a Korean painter of the Joseon period. Like his contemporaries Kim Hongdo and Kim Tŭksin, he is known for his realistic depictions of daily life in his time. His genre paintings are distinctly more erotic than Kim Hongdo's, a fact which contributed to his expulsion from the royal painting institute, Tohwasŏ. Painting was frequently a hereditary occupation in the Joseon period, and Sin's father and grandfather had both been court painters. Together with Kim Hongdo and the later painter Chang Sŭngŏp, Sin is remembered today as one of the "Three Wons" of Joseon-period painting, referring to the shared particles in their art names.

Biography

Not much is known about Sin Yunbok's life. He was the son of royal court painter Hanpyeong, who had participated in painting the royal portraits of Yeongjo and Jeongjo. Sin reached the official rank of cheomjeoljesa at the Tohwasŏ and was adept at different styles of painting; genre, landscape, and animals. It is speculated that he left a great number of paintings due to the popularity of genre paintings during that era.
There are different studies and theories regarding his life, that he may not have ever been a member of the Tohwasŏ nor was he on close terms with Kim Hong-do.

Style and legacy

Sin Yunbok, despite being greatly influenced and overshadowed by Kim Hongdo during his career, developed his own unique technique and artistry. Along with Kim Hongdo, he is known foremost for his genre paintings of the Joseon era. Whereas Kim depicted everyday life of peasants with a humorous touch, Sin showed glimpses of eroticism in his paintings of townspeople and kisaeng. His choice of characters, composition, and painting method differed from Kim's, with use of bright colors and delicate paint strokes. He also painted scenes of shamanism and townlife, offering insight to lifestyle and costumes of the late Joseon era.
His ink landscape paintings used clear light strokes in a method similar to that of Yun Chehong, the pioneer in new style painting of the late Joseon era. He is also known to not have used the traditional method of leaving empty space in his paintings, usually filling the whole canvas. Although he placed short verse and his seal on most of his paintings, none indicate the date nor time of their creation and it is difficult to define the progression of his painting style. As one of the pillars of genre painting in the Joseon era, he influenced many other painters afterwards.
His album, Hyewon Pungsokhwacheop, contains 30 of his paintings and was designated the 135th National Treasure of South Korea in 1970.

Famous paintings

  • Portrait of a Beauty : Painting on silk. Depicts the standard of traditional beauty in the Joseon era. Realistic details of the hanbok are notable.
  • Dano day : Painting on paper. Depicts a scene on Dano day; semi-nudes bathing in the stream, a woman in a bright red hanbok rides a swing, two young monks peek in the background.

    Fictional portrayals

Literature

In the novel Painter of the Wind by Lee Jung-myung, Sin is portrayed as a woman disguised as a man.

Film and television