정선과 이병연의 우정에 대한 재고: 《경교명승첩(京郊名勝帖)》의 ‘시거화래지약(詩去畵來之約)’을 중심으로

Abstract

In the study of Korean painting, analyzing the social environment in which the artist lived and worked is essential for understanding his or her artistic production. Interpersonal relations such as friendship, teacher-student relation, as well as kinship are regarded as external factors in the formation of an artist’s world. In particular, the factor ‘friendship’ was prone to being idealized or romanticized in the narrative of a traditional artist. This phenomenon appears to have occurred also in the case of the eminent painter Jeong Seon (1676-1759). Most research on Jeong Seon and his friend Yi Byeongyeon (1671-1751) claims that they shared a pure and beautiful friendship. Until now, the Gyeonggyo myeongseung cheop (Album of Famous Scenic Spots in the Suburbs of Hanyang) in the collection of the Kansong Art Museum is considered to be a collaboration by Jeong and Yi which resulted from their friendship. However, this paper aims to visually analyze those works from the album Gyeonggyo myeongseung cheop, which were based on their “promise of interchanging poetry and pictures.” Its primary objective is to reconsider the friendship between Jeong Seon and Yi Byeongyeon from a critical perspective. Works produced in accordance with their “promise of interchanging poetry and pictures” were executed between the years 1740 and 1741 by Jeong and Yi, while the former lived and worked in Yangcheon as a county magistrate. The album was in the possession of Jeong Seon’s family until Sim Hwanji (1730-1802) acquired it from the painter’s second son. It is very rare that Jeong created paintings for himself, since he normally painted on commission for other people throughout his lifetime. The paintings in the album were designed to visualize their friendship while featuring various genres such as portraits, topographical landscapes, narrative pictures, and poetic paintings (paintings based on poems). Jeong and Yi utilized these paintings to cement their friendship. The friendship represented in these paintings, however, should not be regarded as a true portrayal of their close relationship. Yi Byeongyeon was not only a friend but also a client as well as an agent (go-between or middleman) involved in art sales. Jeong Seon was a literati artist, who belonged to the aristocratic, ruling yangban class of Joseon society. When someone with no acquaintance to him desired to request a painting, Yi Byeongyeon served as the intermediary between artist and client. Yi also assisted Jeong Seon in selling his paintings to the Chinese whenever Korean emissaries went to China on diplomatic missions. Yi asked the emissaries to sell Jeong’s paintings on his and the painter’s behalf. Instead of money (cash payments), Jeong Seon seems to have accepted various gifts as payment for his art. Thus, he received goods such as fish, silk, candles, yellow-glazed porcelain wares from China, and so forth. In Joseon Korea, literati painters were generally not encouraged to sell their paintings for money. For this reason, exchanging gifts was a way for aristocratic artists to escape stigmatization related to the monetary sale of paintings. Additionally, when clients ordered paintings through Yi, they could obtain high quality works while avoiding to hurt the artist’s pride. In this way, the friendship of Jeong Seon and Yi Byeongyeon served as a means of using the output of their artistic activities in a commercial way. Many eminent collectors of the 18th century wished to own an album which combined Jeong Seon’s paintings with Yi Byeongyeon’s poetry. Jeong and Yi were artistic partners who mutually understood their artistic activities and inspired each other. At the same time, their friendship was mutually beneficial and accordingly came to be utilized commercially for their art business.