{"id":174744,"date":"2025-09-28T08:31:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T08:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/174744\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T08:31:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T08:31:20","slug":"koreas-oldest-tiger-magpie-painting-goes-on-view-at-leeum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/174744\/","title":{"rendered":"Korea’s oldest tiger-magpie painting goes on view at Leeum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A <\/p>\n

A still frame from Netflix’s hit animated film, \u2033KPop Demon Hunters\u2033 [NETFLIX]<\/p>\n

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With the popularity of the Netflix original film \u201cKPop Demon Hunters,\u201d interest in Korean traditional culture has surged. Now the Leeum Museum of Art in Hannam-dong, Yongsan, central Seoul, is staging an ongoing special exhibition, \u201cTigers and Magpies.”
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The museum has unveiled, for the first time in Korea, the oldest existing \u201ctiger and magpie\u201d painting, or “Hojakdo,”\u00a0dating back to 1592. \u00a0
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Alongside 19th-century minhwa (folk painting) known for its humor and satire, the exhibition gathers seven works in one place, including an orthodox painting by Kim Hong-do (1745-1806) and the \u201cHojakdo\u201d that inspired Hodori, the 1988 Seoul Olympic mascot. The exhibit shows Korean aesthetics, wit and social satire across different eras. \u00a0
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Tigers and magpies were long among Koreans\u2019 favorite animals and key motifs in traditional art. The tiger, a fearsome beast, often symbolized a virtuous gentleman and an apotropaic spirit of protection; painters even depicted tiger pelts as decorative screens to ward off misfortune. \u201cHojakdo,\u201d which portrays a tiger with a magpie, became a representative theme of folk paintings in the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). \u00a0
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\"The <\/p>\n

The gallery shows the special exhibition “Tigers and Magpies” at Leeum Museum of Art. [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The gallery shows the special exhibition “Tigers and Magpies” at Leeum Museum of Art. [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The gallery shows the special exhibition “Tigers and Magpies” at Leeum Museum of Art. [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

A tiger-and-magpie painting from 1592
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The \u201cTigers and Magpies\u201d (1592) in the Leeum collection is the oldest surviving Korean example of the genre, and the source of later folk “Hojakdo.” Scholars believe the magpie-and-tiger iconography originally began in China\u2019s Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368); however, this work carries on that lineage while showing a distinctly Korean design by placing the magpie in a tree. A tiger and her cubs stand before a pine at left, while a magpie perches on a branch above. \u00a0
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An inscription in the upper-right corner reads \u201cpainted in the imjin year,\u201d which identifies the work as 1592, and the fact that the artist rendered it as an orthodox painting \u2014 not a work of folk art \u2014 also stands out. \u00a0
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One picture unites several motifs: a tiger descending from the mountain \u201cchulsanho,\u201d a bird startled and gladdened by the birth \u201cgyeongjo,\u201d and a mother nursing her cub \u201cyuho.\u201d Chulsanho refers to a tiger coming down to set straight foxes and wolves that masquerade as tigers. Korean traditional music band Leenalchi\u2019s song \u201cTiger Is Coming\u201d (2020) also depicts a tiger descending the mountain. \u00a0
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\"\u2033Tiger <\/p>\n

\u2033Tiger and Magpie\u2033 (19th century) [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

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\u201cThis work captures the classic magpie-and-tiger image while containing all the elements fundamental to the \u2018Hojakdo\u2019 format, which makes it very special,\u201d said Cho Ji-yoon, a curator of the museum. \u00a0
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By the 19th century, \u201cHojakdo\u201d flourished as minhwa, benefiting from the genre\u2019s signature simplicity, freedom and humor. Interpretations multiplied, ranging from a folk belief that the mountain spirit uses the magpie to deliver messages to the tiger, to a social satire portraying the tiger as a corrupt official and the magpie as the common people. \u00a0
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The exhibition also presents the \u201cHojakdo\u201d long regarded as a canonical folk work and the motif for Hodori, the mascot of the 1988 Seoul Olympics \u2014 a piece nicknamed the \u201cPicasso Tiger\u201d for its abstract feel that recalls Picasso. With ears pricked, the tiger listens to a prophecy delivered by the magpie at the mountain spirit\u2019s behest; the comically exaggerated expression typifies minhwa. \u00a0
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\"\u2033Tigers <\/p>\n

\u2033Tigers and Magpies\u2033 (1592) [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe tiger\u2019s face bears round leopard spots, but the body shows long tiger stripes, so the artist fused leopard and tiger,\u201d Cho said. \u201cIt shows that people at the time perceived leopards and tigers as the same animal.\u201d
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Another \u201cTigers and Magpies,\u201d likely painted in 1874 by Shin Jae-hyun, stands out as a rare case in which both artist and date are known. Its inscription \u2014 roughly, \u201cWhen the tiger growls, a flock of magpies gathers\u201d \u2014 proclaims the tiger\u2019s stature and dignity, and the work blends folk painting with the spirit of literati painting.
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Another unique 19th-century piece is the \u201cCurtain of Tiger Pelts,” which pulls back the center of a tiger-skin canopy to reveal a scholar\u2019s study. Painters depicted tiger-pelt screens because tiger skin was believed to repel evil. \u00a0
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\"\u2033Tigers <\/p>\n

\u2033Tigers and Magpies\u2033 (1874) [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

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\u201cBooks fill the desk, and the open volume shows a poem by Dasan Jeong Yak-yong,\u201d Cho said. \u201cThe work reflects the culture the literati enjoyed.”
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Kim Hong-do\u2019s \u201cTiger under a Pine Tree,\u201d whose realistic rendering exudes the dignity of orthodox painting is also exhibited. The pose of the tiger turning beneath the pine echoes the chulsanho prototype that underlies folk \u201cmagpie-and-tiger\u201d images.
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Some have assumed the museum rushed this show to ride the \u201dKPop Demon Hunters\u201d wave, but the museum planned it a year ago.
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\u201cI hope this exhibition lets visitors identify the roots of Korean characters that delight the world today, and truly understand our traditional culture,\u201d Cho said.
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A paper fan with a magpie and a tiger [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A disposable camera with a magpie and tiger [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART] <\/p>\n

Exhibition-linked crafts and goods
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The Leeum gift shop store offers exhibition-related crafts and goods that reinterpret traditional aesthetics with contemporary design, including money envelopes, postcards, paper fans, eco bags, blankets and disposable cameras. \u00a0
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The free exhibition runs through Nov. 30 and is reservable via the museum website. <\/p>\n

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE EUN-JU [[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A still frame from Netflix’s hit animated film, \u2033KPop Demon Hunters\u2033 [NETFLIX] \u00a0 With the popularity of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-174744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}