Kim Si (1524–1593) was a Korean artist. Kim Si worked during Korea's Joseon period. The Cleveland Museum of Art's structured artist record gives his dates as 1524–1593; the limited surviving paintings make individual works especially valuable to the study of this period. Snowscape with Figures offers a landscape built from mountain forms, trees, buildings and small people. Its arrangement invites the viewer to travel through changes of distance, with ink marks and pale areas giving different parts of the terrain their own weight.
Snowscape with Figures survives as an example of early Joseon painting. Its landscape places buildings, water and small figures within much larger mountain forms. Looking from those human details towards the surrounding terrain gives the picture its changing sense of distance.
The selected pictures
Snowscape with Figures: Small figures occupy a wintry mountain landscape beside water and distant buildings. Kim Si’s ink and light colour create depth through finely drawn terrain and soft, open space.
Ink painting and drawing make the surrounding pale field an active part of a scene. A concentrated mark can establish a tree, feather or mountain edge, while a lighter passage opens distance or suggests a changing surface. The differences need not correspond to a single uniform level of description. Look first at the relation between dark marks and open areas, then follow a smaller detail through the neighbouring space. That movement helps reveal how the whole picture is organised, with intervals and changes of scale contributing to its atmosphere as directly as the forms that are explicitly described.
Looking closely
Mountain landscapes and small human presences arranged within spacious ink compositions.
Begin with the largest forms, then follow the smaller marks that connect them. In Snowscape with Figures, compare the subject with the space around it and the way light moves between them. Return to the complete picture after looking at a detail: its effect depends on the relationship of those parts, and the arrangement often reveals something different on a second visit.
Art to live with.
Fine-art prints on 200 gsm paper. Choose unframed or explore the available frame finishes, in a size that suits your space.
