이 글은 17세기 이후 서화수장이 점차 확산된 현상에 주목하여 서화완상과 鑑評, 수집의 기저를 이룬 여러 談論에 대해 분석한 것이다. 구체적으로 본 논문에서는 書畵收藏論이라고 할 수 있는 논의 자체에 관한 분석과 서화수장 담론이 전개되면서 나타난 실제 모습에 대한 관계성을 파악하는데 중점을 두었다. 그 결과, 조선후기 서화수장론은 조선전기의 玩物喪志 규제에서 벗어나 후기로 갈수록 嗜好를 개인의 고유한 습성으로 인식하고 이상적인 수장가의 像을 탐구하는 방향으로 전개되었음을 확인할 수 있었다. 아울러 중국 총서류와 소품서, 다양한 明末淸初의 著述이 국내로 유입됨에 따라 작품의 감상법과 진위, 보관 문제로까지 담론이 확산되면서 서화수장의 가치를 인정한 사회적 토대 및 이론적 근거가 마련되었던 것으로 보인다. 서화저록의 탐독과 서화작품의 유통, 골동서화를 향유하고 수집한 수장처의 확산, 전문 수장가의 존재는 이러한 의식의 구체적인 모습이라고 할 수 있다. 그러므로 서화수장론은 서화예술에 대한 사회적·미학적인 인식을 반영한 것이며, 書畵史의 전개, 그리고 새로운 서화양식의 출현과 수용, 조선후기 예술 담론이 생성될 수 있었던 배경이 된 광범위한 인식의 틀이었다는 점에서 의의를 찾을 수 있다.The late Joseon period witnessed an extraordinary surge in collecting of art works. This paper briefly surveys Joseon art collectors' discourses on the collecting of calligraphic works, paintings, and old objects. As presented in this paper in details, the main idea of the discourses on art collecting on the late Joseon period, has evolved as the collecting is the individual's unique traits increasingly recognized as a symbol and a quest for the ideal state of the collectors. As Chinese comprehensive books and miscellaneous series of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties have been flowed to Joseon, the discourses of the appreciating, authenticating, and well-keeping art works became to be emerged as the issue among the art collectors.
A quarter of the 17th century, the discussion related to the art collecting put forward a positive and was gradually spread. ‘Wanmul(玩物), appreciating things’ was accepted as the inner potential human quality which was strictly abandoned by the Confucian principles dominated in the Joseon society, newly understanding the humane nature. It is notable that this social milieu means that a love for art collection was developed as a single aesthetic theory in the history of Joseon art. As we have seen in the previous chapters, the building individual archives of art works, distributing works among the collectors, and reading miscellaneous books related to antiques are the specific phenomena that made professional collector like Yu Man-ju(兪晩柱, 1755~1788, sobriquet Heumyeong) were more active. As a descendent of Gigye Yu clan (gigye yu-ssi 杞溪兪氏), one of the illustrious families of the late Joseon period, Yu was a prolific writer who left behind the voluminous records under the intellectual and artistic ambience of the family. His diary written for 13 years, is the miscellanies that contain the vast information on various Confucian books, novels, paintings, calligraphic works, manuals of painting, and antiques exposed to his daily experiences. The presence of the professional collectors was the concrete aspects in the late Joseon period. Various discourses on art collecting could be generated on the foundation of such a positive social perception.