조선시대 후기에는 정선(鄭敾, 1676-1759)에 의해 한국의 실재 자연을 표현한 실경산수화(實景山水畵)가 크게 발달하기 시작하였다. 그런데 정선 이전에도 이미 고려시대부터 한국에서는 실경산수화의 전통이 있었다. 그리고 최근에는 계회도(契會圖)를 중심으로 조선 중기 이전의 실경산수화에 대한 연구가 다수 이루어졌다. 그러나 지금까지 조선 초기ㆍ중기의 실경산수화가 실재 작품으로는 어떤 것들이 남아있는지, 그리고 그 작품들에 표현된 현장은 어디인지 등에 대한 구체적인 논의는 부족했다. 따라서 이 글은 조선시대 초기와 중기의 실경산수화를 ‘실재 작품과 그 현장’을 중심으로 개괄적으로 살펴보고자 했다.
이 글을 통해 조선 초기와 중기에도 이미 다양한 지역의 실경산수화들이 다양한 방식으로 창작되고 있었음을 확인하였다. 그리고 본격적 진경산수화가 발달하기 훨씬 전부터 회화적으로 뛰어난 작품들이 우리나라 자연의 특징과 아름다움을 훌륭하게 표현하고 있었음을 확인할 수 있었다.During the late Joseon dynasty, Korean real?scenery landscape painting, a realistic depiction of natural scenery, achieved a major breakthrough under the leadership of Jeongseon (鄭敾, 1676?1759). The tradition of real?scenery landscape painting already existed in the Goryeo period, and numerous studies have been recently undertaken on real?scenery landscape paintings before the mid Joseon era with its main focus on “Kyehoe?do (契會圖, paintings of a gathering).” However, they failed to conduct some detailed discussion as to what still remains among original real?scenery landscape paintings of the early and mid Joseon era and where their real venues are actually located. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to give a brief glimpse of real?scenery landscape paintings of the early and mid Joseon era-particularly “real scenery?based works and their venues,” thereby uncovering numerous pieces describing real scenery among our remaining landscaping paintings of the early and mid Joseon times and presenting actual location of their venues.
The remaining real?scenery landscape paintings of the early and mid Joseon dynasty are largely Kyehoe?do or various documentary paintings. In particular, “Donggungchaekbongdogamkyehoe?do (東宮冊封都監契會圖)” (1557) of Mt. Inwang, Baekak, and Samgak, Seoul and “Seonjeonryowoojunghoegwanseo?do (宣傳僚友重會關西圖)” (1576) of Youngbyeon, Yaksan, and Dongdae, Pyungan Province, North Korea are great masterpieces with magnificent scene composition and elaborate description. They never lag behind Jeongseon’s real?scenery landscape paintings in terms of artistic accomplishment or expression of ambience. Jeongseon’s true?view landscape paintings in the late Joseon era came under more direct influence of those real?scenery paintings by Han, Sigak (韓時覺, 1621??) and Jo, Segeol (曺世傑, 1636?1705 or later) in the 17th century. These pieces are a more realistic and specific portrayal of Korean natural scenery than previous works of the 16th century. It is also quite notable that literary intellectuals such as Kim, Soojeung (金壽增, 1624?1701), Kim, Soohang (金壽恒, 1629?1689), and Nam, Guman (南九萬, 1629?1711) played a key role in such artistic creation as a client. Of course, the style or trend of the times is crucial for artistic works, but true masterpieces rely mainly on individual competence of painter and artistic insight of patron and client.
This paper demonstrates that real scenery landscape paintings of various regional landscapes already existed in diverse forms during the early and mid Joseon dynasty. Moreover, it shows that there some outstanding paintings already succeeded in capturing Korean natural landscape and scenic beauty so well long before the heyday of a true?view landscape painting.