Ilwolobongdo is one of the most important paintings in Korean Art and personally one of the most fascinating subjects as I study Minhwa.

Ilwolobongdo literally means “Painting of the Sun, Moon and the Five Peaks”. It is a folding screen with a highly stylized landcape painting which always was set as the king’s royal throne. The painting is a background of the king and only competed as the king sits in the middle.

The red Sun, the yang, and the white moon, the yin, appear together in the nature representing the universe in symmetrical balance.

My ilwolobongdo is a small version of the royal screen. I did two paintings at the same time to play with the color.

Minhwa_Ilwolobongdo, 50 x 50cm, Color on Korean Paper

The first warm tone painting is the original version as it is in the royal palace. The other one, the cool tone, is a bit of variation of myself.

Since the painting is for the king, there is very specific way of drawing and painting the wave, and the fine needles etc. No mistake or personal style is allowed. The perfect balance in solid and saturated color is the key.

I was very interested to see this vivid but robust and almost theatrical way of seeing the world.