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Look at the official’s shy smile, then at the single crane flying on his chest badge and the spotted leopard tail curling out at lower right.
Chae Yongshin, once a military officer, became royal portraitist in 1901, and the emperor gave him the art name Seokgang. On the back of this portrait he signed with that name in December 1921, noting that he was 80. The single crane on the badge marks the sitter as an official of the third rank, and the leopard skin over the chair was a court gift to newly appointed officers. The Cleveland Museum of Art credits European photography, which reached Korea in the late 1800s, with inspiring his lifelike manner.
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Overall: 156.4 x 87.3 cm · Cleveland Museum of Art
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Portrait of a Government Official
- Artist
- Chae Yongshin (Korean, 1850–1941)
- Date
- 1921
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- Overall: 156.4 x 87.3 cm (61 9/16 x 34 3/8 in.); Painting only: 127 x 71.1 cm (50 x 28 in.)
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Artist’s life 1850–1941
View in the AtlasGaller’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.