Author: chisato

The Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia (VMPEA) workshop is pleased to announce the Winter 2025 schedule. All events will meet on selected Fridays from 4:45 to 6:45 pm CT at CWAC (Cochrane-Woods Art Center) 152 unless otherwise noted. If a presenter opts for a hybrid format with an online audience, we will send out a registration link prior to these events. You are welcome to subscribe to our listserv to receive event notifications.

Winter 2025 Schedule

January 10

Yuanxie Shi

PhD Candidate, East Asian Languages and Civilizations | CSGS Residential Fellow, UChicago

“Beyond Rural and Urban Material Cultures: Tributes and Gifts in Socialist China”

January 31

Yifan Zou

PhD Candidate, Art History, UChicago

“In the Folds of Dynastic Models: Building and Re-Building of Iconic Towers”

February 14

Xuemiao Wang

Visiting PhD Candidate, Art History, UChicago | PhD Candidate, Zhejiang University

“Fans in the Tombs: Echoes of Elegance and Ritual from Ming Dynasty Folding Fans”

February 21

Mengge Cao

Postdoctoral Scholar, Art History, UChicago

“The Expanded Surface of Painting in Middle Period China”

March 7

Stephanie S.E. Lee

Curatorial Fellow, Block Museum of Art | PhD Candidate, Northwestern University

“Making Yellow: Color Charts, Shiseido, and Asiatic Femininity in East Asian Works-on-Paper”

March 14

Ziyan Guo

Visting PhD Student, Art History, UChicago | PhD Candidate, Zhejiang University

“The Overlap of Time and History: A Study on the Mixed Use of the Motifs in the ‘Four Elders of Shangshan’ and the ‘Nine Elders of Huichang’ Paintings”

Please feel free to contact Taylor (chisato@uchicago.edu) and Lucien (lesun@uchicago.edu) with any questions. We look forward to seeing everybody this quarter!

Sincerely,

Taylor and Lucien

We cordially invite you to join us this Friday, Nov 15, at 4:45-6:45pm CT, CWAC 152 for our third VMPEA of the quarter. We are happy to welcome:

Seonghee Ha

PhD Student, UChicago, Department of Art History

Who will be presenting a paper titled:

“The Brush and the Blade: Yi Jaegwan’s Figures and the Rise of Chivalrous Courtesans in Nineteenth-Century Joseon” 

This workshop will take place in hybrid format. For those who would like to join online, please register here.

Please see the abstract and bio for this workshop below.

We hope to see many of you there!

Yi Jaegwan (1783–ca. 1838), Figures, early 19th century, ink and color on paper, approx. 139.4 × 66.7 cm (panel). National Museum of Korea, Seoul.

Abstract:

This paper explores the rise of chivalrous courtesans (hyeopgi) in the art world of nineteenth-century Joseon, in its search for the possible commissioner of Figures (Gosa inmul do). Created by Yi Jaegwan (1783–ca. 1838), a professional painter active in early nineteenth-century Joseon Korea (1392-1910), Figures consists of six paintings. Four of them are imaginary portraits of women in antiquity who were famous as talented women (cainü) or female knights-errant (nüxia). The others focused on the ideal life of recluses. The images and the poems written on these pictures show the painter’s intention to represent the figures as romantic partners. Talented women and female knights-errant were considered ideal companions by some nineteenth-century Joseon literati. Making the most of this trend, courtesans (gisaeng), especially the ones at the upper level of their profession, positioned themselves as “chivalrous courtesans” who were qualified both as talented women and female knights-errant. Their purpose was to be perceived as a perfect match for scholar-gentry men.

Among those chivalrous courtesans, it is highly possible that Kim Uncho (ca. 1800–before 1857) played an active role in the creation of Figures. She was a renowned poet and a concubine of Kim Iyang (1755–1845), a high ranking official from the prestigious Andong Kim clan who was 45 years older than her. Jo Huiryong (1789–1866) and Gang Jin (1807–1858), who wrote inscriptions on Figures, seem to have frequently gathered at Yi Jaegwan’s studio named Heunyeon’gwan. Kim Uncho was also a member of this literati circle. The selection of figures and the way in which the inscriptions were written on Figures are highly suggestive of the presence of Kim Uncho behind the making of Figures. In this study, Figures is recognized as an important piece of evidence highlighting that courtesans were active as appreciators, clients, and patrons of paintings in nineteenth-century Korea, as found in the case of Kim Uncho.

Bio:

Seonghee Ha is a PhD student in the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago, specializing in East Asian art. Her research focuses on courtesans who were active in the art world of early modern East Asia, particularly how they shaped and re-invented the concept of “love” in the visual arts. She aims to examine the subtle ways in which female agency has been constructed and operated throughout East Asian art history. Seonghee received her BA in Aesthetics and MA in Art History from Seoul National University. Her MA thesis explored an early nineteenth-century Joseon screen depicting Chinese female figures and its possible connection to Kim Uncho, a renowned Korean courtesan (gisaeng).