New gallery showcases academy's Korean holdings

“Lotus, Fish and Birds,” a folding screen from the Choson dynasty, 19th century. The screen was given to the Honolulu Academy of Arts by Frances “Patches” Damon Holt in memory of John Dominis Holt. Photos courtesy Honolulu Academy of Arts

The art of Korea is often the stepchild of museum displays and art history surveys, relegated to a corner cabinet or a footnote referring to celadon ceramics. It is true that Korea's history has been intermingled with that of Japan and China for most of its 3,000-plus years. However, Korean art has a distinguished history that merits more than a passing glance.

A new gallery at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, which opened a week ago, provides modern, airy and inviting facilities in which to display the academy's large collection of Korean art. Next to it is a newly designed space intended for temporary Asian art exhibitions, the first of which is a splendid showing of Korean textiles from the collection of the Ewha Women's University Museum in Seoul, South Korea.

Previously, what could be shown of the academy's collection of Korean objects was limited to what a couple of traditional museum display cases could hold, meaning only a handful of the collection was on view at any one time.

According to George Ellis, the academy's director, when the museum decided three years ago to enlarge the amount of space for Korean art, the staff realized that at the same time they would need to augment the collection, until then centered on ceramics. Since then, the museum has been given or has purchased much of the art currently on display, including furniture and hanging scrolls.

Highlights of the new acquisitions are two magnificent folding screens. One, a 10-panel painting depicting lotus, fish and birds, would have been used in the women's quarters of a 19th-century home. The other, an eight-panel painting of various reading and writing materials, would have been for the men's quarters.

Displayed next to the latter screen is a scholar's writing table, similar to the low table depicted in each panel of the screen, authenticating, as it were, those found in the painted scenes.

Folding screens served a useful function in the traditional upper-class home by dividing space while simultaneously providing an aesthetically pleasing presence. The painting of lotus, fish and birds is particularly gorgeous, with graceful birds and sea creatures appearing above and below a water garden of delicate lotus blooms.

Ceramics remain an important part of the academy's collection. According to Julia White, curator of Asian art, of the 1,000 objects in the Korean collection, 800 are ceramics. Those exhibited are among the choicest, ranging from the 4th and 5th centuries to the 10th, 11th and 12th, when the production of Korean celadons was at its zenith.

The academy's collection of celadon ware is one of the most important outside Korea, says Ellis. Until now, those pieces have not been adequately exhibited, though their exceptional beauty could not have gone unnoticed by the attentive museum visitor.

Installed in well-lighted cases designed especially for them, the celadons can now be seen as the truly exquisite objects that they are. Their semitransparent glazes — a soft bluish green, sea green, grass green, or grayish green — is unparalleled in the history of ceramics. During the 13th century, however, firing techniques deteriorated, and later celadons have a brownish hue.

The textiles exhibited in the temporary exhibition are selected from more than 6,300 decorative art objects in the collection of the Ewha museum, founded in 1935 by what is the world's largest female institution of higher education.

Anyone who happened to see the South Korean film "Chunhyang" at the academy's theater last week, or at last year's Hawai'i International Film Festival, will recognize the garments on display as similar to the dramatic and stunning costumes worn by actors in the film.

There are ceremonial robes, bridal dresses, hats of the type worn by noblemen, children's attire, shoes and decorative jewelry. The fabrics — silk and ramie — are all natural, as are the dyes. Colors range from vivid primaries to subtle shades of deep purple, brown and green.

According to White, this exhibition marks the beginning of a unique partnership with the Ewha museum, by which the two institutions will share their collections through loan exhibitions. The current exhibition will be on view through Oct. 28.

•	Korean Art and Textiles Where: Honolulu Academy of Arts Information: 532-8700

To remedy a previous accessibility problem, a false floor has been built out over three-quarters of the Korean gallery, allowing visitors in wheelchairs to enter. Further, the new free-standing display cases are clear on all sides, allowing sightlines through them. The object labels are easy to read and informative.

Alluding to the large Korean community in Hawai'i, Ellis points out that the new space for Korean art helps fulfill the mandate of the museum's founder, Anna Rice Cooke, which was to showcase art that would inspire all residents of Hawai'i. He added that the museum is "extremely pleased to adequately present a full range of Korean objects."

Renovation of the Korean gallery was made possible by a grant from the Korea Foundation. Assistance was provided by the Honolulu-based South Korean consul general and his staff.

Virginia Wageman can be reached at VWageman@aol.com.