Snowscape with Figures (1584): Art, History and Details

Snowscape with Figures (1584) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Kim Si (Korean, 1524–1593).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This hanging scroll is a rare surviving example of early Joseon period painting. The painter Kim Si (1481–1537) was a member of the aristocracy, or high-ranking men. However, after his father, Kim Anro (1481–1537) fell out of power, Kim Si retreated himself and spent his life as a reclusive artist. In such a context, this image of a solitary scholar in his studio surrounded by trees and snow-covered mountains does not simply render an idealized life of a recluse focusing on scholarly pursuits; rather, it is the painter’s mindscape, indicating that the glory of his family has become a forgotten part of his past.

Object facts

• Title: Snowscape with Figures
• Date: 1584
• Creator attribution: Kim Si (Korean, 1524–1593)
• Culture: Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink on silk
• Dimensions: Painting only: 53 x 67.3 cm (20 7/8 x 26 1/2 in.); Overall: 148.6 x 90.2 cm (58 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1987.187

A detail from the museum

Having retreated to the snow-covered mountains, a scholar sits in his studio surrounded by trees. An empty wooden bridge in the distance appears to be longing for friends from afar. Such iconography often evokes the idea of an idealized recluse focusing on scholarly pursuits.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Art of Asia Acquired by North American Museums, 1987.” Archives of Asian Art 41 (1988): 95–110.
• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1987.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (February 1988): 30–71.
• Hoam Misulgwan, Chungang Ilbosa, and Han'guk Pangsong Kongsa. Chosŏn chŏn'gi kukpojŏn: widaehan munhwa yusan ŭl ch'ajasŏ (2) : 1996.12.14--1997.2.11 [朝鮮前期國寳展 : 위대한문화유산을찾아서(2) : 1996.12.14--1997.2.11 = The Treasure Exhibition of the Former Era of Choson Dynasty - Looking for Great cultural Legacy II]. Sŏul T'ŭkpyŏlsi: Samsŏng Munhwa Chaedan, 1996.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.