Modern Tradition Korean Buncheong Ceramics from the Leeum Collection Soyoung Lee, Seung-Chang Jeon

Bold, sophisticated, engaging, and startlingly modern, Buncheong ceramics emerged as a distinct Korean art form in the 15th and 16th centuries, only to be eclipsed on its native ground for more than 400 years by the overwhelming demand for porcelain. Elements from the Buncheong idiom were later revived in Japan, where its spare yet sensual aesthetic was much admired and where descendants of Korean potters lived and worked. This innovative study features 60 masterpieces from the renowned Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, as well as objects from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and presents current scholarship on Buncheong's history, manufacture, use, and overall significance. "Modern Tradition" illustrates why this historical art form continues to resonate with contemporary Japanese ceramicists and Korean artists as they reclaim an ancient national tradition.

Soyoung Lee is Associate Curator, Department of Asian Art, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Seung-chang Jeon is Chief Curator at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea.

"In addition to providing an engaging and thorough history of buncheong, the way that the book follows and documents changes in style and production and relates them to cultural factors is instructive to a contemporary audience, and relevant to ceramic artists."--Jessica Knapp, "Ceramics Monthly"--Jessica Knapp "Ceramics Monthly "

Page spreads