The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

Grapevine

Grapevine

early 1800s
(Korean, active first half of 19th century)
Image: 100.5 x 345 cm (39 9/16 x 135 13/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Grapes in premodern East Asia symbolize many children.

Description

July is the season of the ripening deep blue grapes, and also the month when the monsoon season begins in Korea. To the accompaniment of stormy summer wind, grape vines make a spectacular full circle across the surface of this eight-panel folding screen. The artist employed a variety of ink tones to create a sense of swift movement of grapevines amid turbulent storms.

Since their first introduction to the Korean peninsula around the 7th century through the Silk Road, grapes were used as artistic motifs. Artists embellished the surface of mother-of-pearl lacquer boxes or blue-and-white porcelain, while scholar-poets composed poems about the luscious sweet sourness of green grapes. By the late 19th century, grapes became the icon of fertility: the fruit grows in large clusters of many individual grapes, evoking the image of a stable clan with many descendants.
  • ?-2015
    George Gund III [1937-2013], bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2015-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    Beyond Folding Screens [조선, 병풍의 나라]. Seoul: Amorepacific Museum of Art, 2018.
  • Korean Gallery 236 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 10, 2017-January 8, 2018).
  • {{cite web|title=Grapevine|url=false|author=Choe Seok-hwan|year=early 1800s|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.510