Artwork Page for Gibbons in a Landscape

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Gibbons in a Landscape

원숭이유희도 (群猿遊戱圖)

early 1900s

Korea, Joseon dynasty

(1392–1910)
Medium
Six-panel folding screen; ink and color on hemp
Measurements
Painting only: 104.8 x 393.7 cm (41 1/4 x 155 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1996.256
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Gibbons were often presented to the Joseon royal court as diplomatic gifts from the Japanese government.

Description

In this folding screen, gibbons playfully interact with each other. In Korean paintings, gibbons were less frequently depicted than in their Chinese and Japanese counterparts. However, they became popular toward the end of the 1800s, possibly due to an influx of Chinese and Japanese decorative arts. Gibbons symbolize good fortune, but as paired with the red autumn foliage, specifically refer to professional success, such as passing the government examination and getting promoted to a higher position. The large ripe peach held by one gibbon bears another symbolic meaning: prosperity and longevity.
Six-paneled folding screen depicting a continuous landscape scene in greens and browns on a gold-brown background, swarming with gibbons. The gibbons, small apes with long arms, are orange-brown, brown, yellow, grey, black, or white and leap, cling to trees, sit on cliff edges, and frolic. A light-brown waterfall extends down in the background, a white bird standing in the water pooling in front of it. Seated facing us, a gibbon holds a peach.

Gibbons in a Landscape

early 1900s

Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

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