Flowering Plums and Curio Cabinets

The social and economic rise of the chungin class (“middle people” who ranked between the yangban aristocracy and commoners) during the late Chosŏn period (1700–1910) ushered in a world of materialism and commodification of painting and other art objects. Generally overlooked in art history, the chungin contributed to a flourishing art market, especially for ch’aekkori , a new form of still life painting that experimented with Western perspective and illusionism, and a reimagined style of the tr