Korea’s oldest tiger-magpie painting goes on view at Leeum

With the popularity of the Netflix original film “KPop Demon Hunters,” interest in Korean traditional culture has surged. Now the Leeum Museum of Art in Hannam-dong, Yongsan, central Seoul, is staging an ongoing special exhibition, “Tigers and Magpies.”

The museum has unveiled, for the first time in Korea, the oldest existing “tiger and magpie” painting, or “Hojakdo,” dating back to 1592.

Alongside 19th-century minhwa (folk painting) known for its humor and satire, the exhibition gathers seven works in one place, including an orthodox painting by Kim Hong-do (1745-1806) and the “Hojakdo” that inspired Hodori, the 1988 Seoul Olympic mascot. The exhibit shows Korean aesthetics, wit and social satire across different eras.

Tigers and magpies were long among Koreans’ favorite animals and key motifs in traditional art. The tiger, a fearsome beast, often symbolized a virtuous gentleman and an apotropaic spirit of protection; painters even depicted tiger pelts as decorative screens to ward off misfortune. “Hojakdo,” which portrays a tiger with a magpie, became a representative theme of folk paintings in the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

A tiger-and-magpie painting from 1592

The “Tigers and Magpies” (1592) in the Leeum collection is the oldest surviving Korean example of the genre, and the source of later folk “Hojakdo.” Scholars believe the magpie-and-tiger iconography originally began in China’s Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368); however, this work carries on that lineage while showing a distinctly Korean design by placing the magpie in a tree. A tiger and her cubs stand before a pine at left, while a magpie perches on a branch above.

An inscription in the upper-right corner reads “painted in the imjin year,” which identifies the work as 1592, and the fact that the artist rendered it as an orthodox painting — not a work of folk art — also stands out.

One picture unites several motifs: a tiger descending from the mountain “chulsanho,” a bird startled and gladdened by the birth “gyeongjo,” and a mother nursing her cub “yuho.” Chulsanho refers to a tiger coming down to set straight foxes and wolves that masquerade as tigers. Korean traditional music band Leenalchi’s song “Tiger Is Coming” (2020) also depicts a tiger descending the mountain.

“This work captures the classic magpie-and-tiger image while containing all the elements fundamental to the ‘Hojakdo’ format, which makes it very special,” said Cho Ji-yoon, a curator of the museum.

By the 19th century, “Hojakdo” flourished as minhwa, benefiting from the genre’s signature simplicity, freedom and humor. Interpretations multiplied, ranging from a folk belief that the mountain spirit uses the magpie to deliver messages to the tiger, to a social satire portraying the tiger as a corrupt official and the magpie as the common people.

The exhibition also presents the “Hojakdo” long regarded as a canonical folk work and the motif for Hodori, the mascot of the 1988 Seoul Olympics — a piece nicknamed the “Picasso Tiger” for its abstract feel that recalls Picasso. With ears pricked, the tiger listens to a prophecy delivered by the magpie at the mountain spirit’s behest; the comically exaggerated expression typifies minhwa.

“The tiger’s face bears round leopard spots, but the body shows long tiger stripes, so the artist fused leopard and tiger,” Cho said. “It shows that people at the time perceived leopards and tigers as the same animal.”

Another “Tigers and Magpies,” likely painted in 1874 by Shin Jae-hyun, stands out as a rare case in which both artist and date are known. Its inscription — roughly, “When the tiger growls, a flock of magpies gathers” — proclaims the tiger’s stature and dignity, and the work blends folk painting with the spirit of literati painting.

Another unique 19th-century piece is the “Curtain of Tiger Pelts,” which pulls back the center of a tiger-skin canopy to reveal a scholar’s study. Painters depicted tiger-pelt screens because tiger skin was believed to repel evil.

“Books fill the desk, and the open volume shows a poem by Dasan Jeong Yak-yong,” Cho said. “The work reflects the culture the literati enjoyed.”

Kim Hong-do’s “Tiger under a Pine Tree,” whose realistic rendering exudes the dignity of orthodox painting is also exhibited. The pose of the tiger turning beneath the pine echoes the chulsanho prototype that underlies folk “magpie-and-tiger” images.

Some have assumed the museum rushed this show to ride the ”KPop Demon Hunters” wave, but the museum planned it a year ago.

“I hope this exhibition lets visitors identify the roots of Korean characters that delight the world today, and truly understand our traditional culture,” Cho said.

The Leeum gift shop store offers exhibition-related crafts and goods that reinterpret traditional aesthetics with contemporary design, including money envelopes, postcards, paper fans, eco bags, blankets and disposable cameras.

The free exhibition runs through November 30 and is reservable via the museum website.

BY LEE EUN-JU [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]