Yeongbyeok Garden 

Song Ju-heon, Joseon Period 19th Century (1802~?)

Song Chu-hŏn was a literati painter of the nineteenth century, whose courtesy name was Yŏngno (英老), sobriquet Yŏnun (硯雲), and lineage of Kisan. He rose to the office of Sŭngji in government service. He was reputed to excel in the painting of bamboo, and this work confirms that reputation: bamboo fills every quarter of the garden depicted, affording a revealing glimpse into his distinctive manner in that genre. The treatment of the stalks in dilute ink and the leaves in dense ink, together with the characteristically slender, elongated, and gently drooping quality of the bamboo leaves, calls to mind the bamboo paintings of Siha Sin Wi (紫霞 申緯). In his collected writings, the Kyŏngsu Dang jip (警修堂集), Sin Wi refers to Song Chu-hŏn — identifying him as the son of Sosan Song Sang-nae (蘇山 宋祥來) — noting that his "Yŏnun's bearing and spirit improve with each passing day," and states that he is borrowing the rhyme words of Song Chu-hŏn's verse for his own composition. This record suggests not only a relationship of close personal association between the two men, but also the likelihood of a direct pictorial influence.

The painting depicts a garden known as Yŏngbyŏgwŏn (霊壁園). The application of monochrome ink wash across the entire ground surface bespeaks the influence of Western pictorial conventions, while the bird's-eye compositional vantage point from which the garden is surveyed as a whole brings to mind the manner of Kang Se-hwang (姜世晃). Given that Sin Wi was a student of Kang Se-hwang, this work may plausibly be understood as continuing a lineage of literati painting that runs from Kang Se-hwang through Sin Wi to Song Chu-hŏn. The multiple tiled rooftops visible among the surrounding bamboo groves speak to the considerable scale of the estate, yet the painting focuses its subject exclusively on the sarangch'ae — the master's private quarters — and its adjoining courtyard. The garden is appointed in a manner entirely characteristic of literati taste: fantastically shaped scholar's rocks and a stone-topped stand placed beneath a pine tree, with potted plants arranged upon the stand. In the far distance, rooftops of pavilions and other structures emerge through the haze. A crease running along the center of the composition suggests that the work originally formed part of an album. To the right, the title inscription Yŏngbyŏgwondo (霊壁園圖) is written, below which a vermilion square seal reading Yŏnun (硯雲) is impressed.