조영석 작 〈조정만 송하안식도〉 연구: 초상화에 투영된 ‘은일(隱逸) 의식’

Abstract

The painting Resting Under the Pine by Jo Yeongseok (1686-1761) is a portrait of Jo Jeongman (1656-1739), which was previously believed not to have survived until the present day, although there are detailed records of its production. This work of Jo Yeongseok, one of the most representative literati painters of 18th-century Joseon Korea, is currently his only portrait featuring a landscape background. Furthermore, there is a precise account of the process and of the intentions behind its creation that is found in one of the artist’s writings. After repeated requests from Jo Jeong-man, who was a close friend of his teacher Yi Huijo (1655-1724), Jo Yeongseok must have executed this painting with utmost sincerity. Therefore, it needs to be examined anew by highlighting that it is a masterpiece of the artist. Resting Under the Pine is analyzed as a remarkable painting strongly reflecting the sitter’s wish for reclusion and freedom from social conventions. While dedicating his entire life to public service, Jo Jeongman longed for a life in reclusion, and occasionally turned to express this desire through the medium of painting. Thus, he often asked literati artists to paint different genres of paintings for himself and received several from them. This portrait originates from such a context. On the one hand, Jo Yeongseok, whom Jo Jeongman commissioned for a portrait, presented a place of retreat in the painting that seems realistic while also idealistic. On the other hand, he used diverse symbols to depict the sitter enjoying “days of refinement and a reclusive life far away from the vulgar world” in order to express his yearning for reclusion as well as his noble mind and detached spirit. In doing so, the painter responded to Jo Jeongman’s wish that the refined lifestyle he pursued throughout his life would be remembered and passed on forever. Consequently, this work cannot be considered a portrait simply mirroring what was requested by the client. Jo Yeongseok embraced the painting methods and ideas of the Wu school, which led the Chinese literati artist circle during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Correspondingly, he created the portrait with sufficient awareness about the iconography and style of portraits with landscape backgrounds derived from late Ming paintings. In addition to that, he fully understood what his client, a Confucianist and government official, was aspiring and longing for. After all, Resting Under the Pine demonstrates in detail what process and what efforts a Joseon literati painter had to go through at the beginning of the 18th century, when a scholar asked the painter to create his portrait as the image of a recluse. In this regard, this portrait can be evaluated as an important work for comprehending the character and content of portraits with landscape backgrounds as well as genre paintings of literati life that became popular after the early 18th century.