Seohwa: calligraphy and painting
서화
A Korean tradition that joins writing and painting as one art, tied to learning and self-cultivation.
01About
Seohwa is the joint name for “writing” (seo) and “painting” (hwa). Across East Asia it was the common term for traditional painting, and in ink painting image and writing were thought of as a unit; this is the idea behind “unity of writing and painting.” Korean artists of the past treated art as a way of learning and self-cultivation and held that writing and painting share one root, which is why poems were often inscribed on pictures. Only after Western-style painting arrived and modern art institutions formed did the two separate into calligraphy and Eastern-style painting. So with seohwa, the inscription and the picture can be read and looked at together.
02In the gallery
Read the inscription or poem first, then look back at the picture and notice which detail it brings forward.
Wall label terms in Korean
- 서화(書畫)
- seohwa (writing and painting)
- 제시(題詩)
- inscribed poem
- 서화일치(書畫一致)
- unity of writing and painting
03Notes
In seohwa, read the words and the image as one visual language.
How do the words change what you see in the image?