“The Hope Revived in Restored Paintings” at the National Palace Museum
Denver Art Museum’s “Boys with a Hundred Children” Screen Debuts, “Two Korean folding screens, preserved and restored with Korean technology, are being publicly exhibited for the first time.”,
The National Palace Museum announced on the 23rd that it will showcase the “Guwunmongdo (九雲夢圖) Folding Screen” and the “Baekdongjado (百童子圖) Folding Screen” at the special exhibition “The Hope Revived in Restored Paintings,” held from the 25th of this month to the 20th of the next month. These artworks were brought back to Korea for preservation and restoration by the Overseas Cultural Heritage Foundation in October 2023. Though they were partially damaged and altered, they have been restored over roughly a year to closely resemble their original form. After the special exhibition, they will return to the United States.
The “Guwunmongdo Folding Screen” held by the Portland Art Museum depicts key scenes from the novel “Guwunmong” across ten panels. Published in the late 17th century by Kim Man-jung (1637–1692), the novel was so beloved that it became a trend to depict its story on folding screens.
Within the artwork, the story of Seong-jin (性眞)—a disciple of the Taoist master Yukkwandae—reincarnating as Yang So-yu (楊少遊) to form ties with eight women and enjoy wealth and success is sequentially portrayed. The novel’s lesson that worldly success is but a dream is emphasized throughout, alongside the wish for wealth and prosperity.
The screen is said to have been received around 1910 by Mary Elizabeth Church, a missionary at Ewha School, from a student’s parents. It was given as a gift to a friend in America, whose daughter, Jacqueline Boyd, later donated it to the Portland Art Museum.
For preservation, the Cultural Heritage Administration corrected the changed arrangement of the paintings and restored the altered textiles using the remaining fabric as a reference. Each panel of the screen was extended by about 2.5 cm to reveal previously hidden sections.
The “Baekdongjado Folding Screen,” owned by the Denver Art Museum, depicts various scenes of children playing peacefully in a building, illustrating innocence through activities such as chicken fighting, an official procession, monkey tricks, and picking plum blossoms. It wishes for wealth, prosperity, and the flourishing of descendants as well as advancement in officialdom. “Baekdongjado” is a representative auspicious painting from the late Joseon period, used in royal weddings, court banquets, and beautifully decorated living spaces in civilian homes.
The Denver Art Museum acquired this screen in 1970 through an Asian antiquities gallery in New York. The circumstances of its transfer to the U.S. remain unclear, but the presence of 1960s Japanese newspaper lining the frame suggests it was taken abroad around that time.
This screen suffered damage and contamination, and traces of artificial pigments (chrome green) overpainting natural pigments (copper green) were found. The Cultural Heritage Administration removed as much of the artificial pigment as possible and filled in new textiles. Additionally, the screen’s overall design was finished referencing the original colors and shapes from the late 19th century.
A representative commented, “Both screens have regained their original appearance thanks to the expertise of our local preservation experts. We hope many can view them here before they return to the U.S.”