Cityscape of Pyongyang

late 1800s

Cityscape of Pyongyang, late 1800s. Kim Yoon-bo (Korean, 1865–1938). Ten-panel folding screen; ink and color on silk; painting: 98.3 x 307.3 cm (38 11/16 x 121 in.); overall framed: 210.2 x 325.5 cm (82 3/4 x 128 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Partial purchase from the Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund and partial gift of The Honorable Joseph P. Carroll, KM, and Roberta Carroll, M.D. 2022.141 Today Pyongyang is better known as the capital of North Korea, one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. But during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) the city was largely famous for three things: good local government, economic stability, and talented entertainers. Thus, the king's favored senior court officials were often appointed to Pyongyang's governor prior to their full retirement.

Painted by Kim Yoon-bo, native to Pyongyang, this folding screen provides us with a better understanding of the late 19th-century Korean landscape paintings characteristics with topographic accuracy without losing the sophistication of calligraphic brushwork. By the end of the 1800s, Pyongyang, now the capital of North Korea, was nicknamed the “Jerusalem of the East” for its high Christian population.