Conservation of 'The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi' in Korea

Conservation of 'The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi' in Korea
연합뉴스 / 2022-05-30 17:16:41

Conservation of ′The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi′ in Korea

Press Release
30 May 2022

After 4p.m. 30 May 2022

Contact
Kwak Donggu, Cooperation and Promotion
Department
Tel: +82-2-6902-0783 Fax: +82-2-6902-0799
www.overseaschf.or.kr

The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi (郭汾陽行樂圖), Before Conservation (above) and After Conservation (below)

Presentation of outcomes of the conservation of overseas cultural heritage
Nineteenth-century folding screen is given new life in the United States: The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi
- Owned by the Art Institute of Chicago and to be made available for public viewing locally starting in July –


The Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (OKCHF; Secretary-general: Kim Kae sik) has completed the conservation of The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi (郭汾陽行樂圖), a painting owned by the Art Institute of Chicago (President and Eloise W. Martin Director: James Rondeau), and will be disclosing the outcomes of the conservation project to the press on May 30 at the Jung-jae Conservation Center.

The presentation is part of the OKCHF’s “Overseas Cultural Heritage Conservation and Utilization Support Project” and will summarize the work that has been done since the project was launched in August 2021.

The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi is a late-Joseon painting of Guo Ziyi (郭子儀, 697-781), a wealthy Tang dynasty general who lived to an advanced age, enjoying a lavish party in his later years with his family at his spacious home.

Guo was known for having attained all aspects of what was considered at the time to be “worldly success”: namely, a storied career as a government figure, longevity, and knowledge of his children’s prosperity.

This painting, which was especially popular in late Joseon, was produced in large quantities for members of the royal family and upper classes throughout the Joseon dynasty due to their desire to channel Guo’s material and non-material prosperity into their own lives.

List of Men in Jeungsan-hyeon in the Year of Gapja (甑山縣甲子式男正案, 1864)

The version of The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi owned by the Art Institute of Chicago was created in the late 19th century.

Of all surviving versions of this work, this one is characterized by calligraphy that is consistent and outstanding in terms of its quality and relatively pristine colors.

The painting’s overall composition, arrangement of the subject matter, pigment colors, techniques used to depict people, and use of multiple decorative elements all indicate a level of quality that is on par with that of royal paintings.

One interesting detail that came to light through the conservation process was that pieces of several administrative documents from the late 19th century were used as the painting’s backing paper.

One of these documents, entitled “List of Men in Jeungsan-hyeon in the Year of Gapja (甑山縣甲子式男正案, 1864),” is a military service census of adult male residents of Jeungsan-hyeon, Pyeongannam-do, in 1864.

Register of Military Personnel Wages in the Fourth Month of the Year of Jeongmyo (丁卯四月軍色消息, 1867)

The census was an official provincial record and includes many details such as names, ages, years of birth, and ranks of officials.

The documents are also important because the date of one of them (Register of Military Personnel Wages in the Fourth Month of the Year of Jeongmyo (丁卯四月軍色消息), 1867) effectively rules out the possibility of The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi having been produced before 1867.

Through the Overseas Cultural Heritage Conservation and Utilization Support Project, the OKCHF has made available 105 cultural heritage items (for local viewing/use) to 26 institutions in nine countries since 2013.

The OKCHF will continue its efforts to ensure the safe preservation of Korean cultural relics located outside of Korea and effective/widespread use of such relics in the countries in which they are currently located.


ㅇ Title: The Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi (郭汾陽行樂圖)
ㅇ Owned by: Art Institute of Chicago
ㅇ Relic no.: 1940.4
ㅇ Dimensions: 187.1cm x 430.8cm (screen 156.5cm x 427.6cm), eight-panel folding screen
ㅇ Material: color on silk
ㅇ Date/period: late 19th century
ㅇ Date of donation and donor name: April 26, 1940 / William J. Calhoun

※ William J. Calhoun (1848-1916, USA)
- Prominent corporate attorney and government official (served as United States Ambassador to the Chinese Empire)