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Sin Yun-bok (Hyewon)

Painter of the leisure and romance of urban aristocrats and women in fine line and colour, as in Dano pungjeong and Portrait of a Beauty; year of death unknown

He came from a family of court painters. Where Kim Hong-do painted the daily life of commoners, he mostly painted the pleasures of yangban and gisaeng and love between men and women. The Hyewon jeonsincheop album includes Dano pungjeong and Wolha jeongin. His paintings vividly show city life and women of the time, and with Kim Hong-do he represents late Joseon genre painting.

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2 related events

  1. 1
    1700 – 1863Rise of Commoner Culturecreator

    As commoners grew wealthier in late Joseon, pansori, mask dance, Hangul novels and narrative sijo flourished, along with the genre paintings of Kim Hong-do and Sin Yun-bok and anonymous folk painting.

  2. 2
    1805Sin Yun-bok’s Genre Paintingscreator

    Sin Yun-bok painted the pleasures and romances of urban aristocrats and women in delicate lines and bright colours — Dano pungjeong, Lovers under the Moon and Portrait of a Beauty.

Related works

Dramatized works (films, dramas, novels) may differ from the historical record.

People who appear alongside

  • Kim Hong-do (Danwon)1745

    Court painter who portrayed King Jeongjo and is best known for genre scenes of commoners such as The Village School and Ssireum; he died around 1806

  • Heo Gyun1569 – 1618

    Writer traditionally credited with the Korean-script novel Hong Gil-dong jeon; his Homillon spoke of the power of the people, and he was executed for treason

Themes this person appears in

  • Ming, Qing and Edo Japan1500 – 1800

    The age when the Ming, shaken by northern raiders, southern pirates and the silver economy, fell to Li Zicheng’s rebels, and the Manchu Qing reached its greatest extent and prosperity under Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong — as Japan was unified out of the Warring States into the Edo shogunate’s bakuhan order and closed country, and Joseon, after two great wars, met its neighbours through embassies to Edo and the Northern Learning

  • The Course of Korean PaintingAD 450 – 1897

    From Goguryeo tomb murals to Jang Seung-eop — daily life and guardian deities, Goryeo Buddhist painting, early Joseon landscapes, true-view landscapes and genre painting, literati and folk painting

  • Intangible and World Heritage2000 BC – 1850

    From the dolmens to Namhansanseong on the World Heritage List, from Jongmyo ritual music to ssireum on the Intangible Heritage lists — where each came from and when it was inscribed