Hello! My name is Jieun Ro, and I paint minhwa. In this series, I will show you the world of these paintings, one story at a time.
Minhwa (say “min-hwa”) is a kind of colorful Korean painting. Most of the minhwa we see in museums today were made in the late Joseon period, in the 1700s and 1800s.
Back then, a painting was not only something to look at. It was something to use. Families set up painted folding screens for weddings, birthdays, ancestral rites, and the New Year.
A picture for every wish
Each picture carried a wish: a long life, success in school, a happy family, or protection from bad luck. A tiger could guard the house. A peony could wish for wealth and honor.
Look at the screen at the top of this page. It is called “Painting of One Hundred Themes.” It is like a sampler box of minhwa: flowers, animals, books, and mountains, each standing for a different hope.
Where does the name come from?
The word minhwa means “painting of the people.” Many writers say the name was first used by the Japanese thinker Yanagi Muneyoshi (1889–1961), who loved Korean folk art.
Scholars still talk about whether the name really fits, because some of these paintings were also made for palaces. So think of minhwa as a big family of decorative paintings, both humble and grand.
From the Artist
— Jieun Ro
I first met minhwa when my husband was posted overseas for his company. My children were still young, and I had some free time. I have never enjoyed spending a lot of time meeting and socializing with many people, so I was looking for a hobby that would give me quiet time of my own.
I had studied fashion design, so art felt familiar. But diving deep into fine-art painting felt like too much. Minhwa comes with a drawing guide called a bon, so it looked easy to start.
I soon learned how wrong I was! New steps kept appearing, like sizing the paper with glue and mounting the finished painting. Painting a Korean tradition outside Korea was not always easy, either.
Still, I had tried oil and acrylic, and I always loved the clear feel of watercolor much more. So the rich, layered coloring of minhwa drew me in deeply. Most of all, it touched my heart that at every important moment for my family — like my children’s college entrance exams and my husband’s promotion — I could pour my earnest prayers and blessings fully onto the paper.
Try This
Think of one wish you have. Which animal or flower would you paint to show it? You will find many ideas in the stories ahead.
Image credits & sources
This story is part of an ongoing series. More stories are on the way.
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