Ink was the main means of expression used by Neo-Confucian literati and court painters in the 18th and 19th centuries. Strong colours tended to be used in decorative paintings at court or in folk art by unknown painters. The flourishing art market in the 19th century made it increasingly possible to create new styles in writing and painting. Traditional landscape scenes, flower and bird paintings or depictions of animals were interpreted more freely and traditional techniques reformed. Above all, experiments in composition and brushwork lead to fresh and lively forms of expression. Contemporary Korean painting is in a constant state of tension between tradition and contemporary concerns.

For example, the traditional depiction of the tiger is humorously transformed into a Pop Art-like cipher. And genre paintings are used to discuss current social issues.

A temporary presentation of the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin