The Scholar’s Vision, the Photographer’s Eye: Korean Ceramics (1392-1910)

A scholar and an artist explore the contemporary meaning of Korean Joseon-dynasty porcelain, renowned for its beguiling minimalism.

Korean Ceramics: The Scholar’s Vision, The Photographer’s Eye has at its core a dialog between Yangmo Chung--expert scholar and former director of the Korean National Museum--and contemporary artist Bohnchang Koo. Their subject is Joseon-dynasty white and blue-and-white porcelain. These masterpieces, now in museums across the world, captivate with their stark minimalism. Bohnchang Koo’s sensitive portraits of the vessels meet Yangmo Chung’s commentary to provide a unique perspective on Korean ceramics.

International interest in Korean art and culture has boomed in the past decade, but literature on traditional Korean art forms in English remains scarce. This book is a timely resource for an English-speaking audience. In its pages, art-historical expertise combines with aesthetic interpretation, exploring the contemporary meaning of a classical porcelain tradition that blossomed for over five centuries.

Chung Yangmo is the esteemed former director of the National Museum of Korea and a renowned authority on Joseon porcelain. Heakyum Kim is a New York-based gallerist specializing in Korean art, with a particular interest in ceramics. During the course of her career, she has placed major works with museums and important private collections worldwide. Koo Bohnchang is a Korean photographer and artist. Koo’s work confronts the history that has taken Korean porcelains, which are so closely associated with the artistic and cultural heritage of the country, all across the world.