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Collection

c. 1925

Reeds and Geese

Kim Jin-Woo

Korean, 1883 - 1950

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Nine of the twelve panels of this screen contain a distinctive poetic reference to geese. According to the artist's inscription on the last panel, he gave the screen to an elderly friend as a gift. The Korean pronunciation of the characters for "reed" and "old man" are the same (no), as are the words for "geese" and "comfort" (ahn); thus, traditional Korean paintings of reeds and geese represent a wish for a peaceful life in later years.

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Resources

Reeds and Geese

These six vertical panels represent half of a twelve-panel screen painting, which was painted on silk and mounted on a wooden frame so that it would stand upright on the floor.
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Looking to Write, Writing to Look

Looking to Write, Writing to Look brings together twenty-five remarkable works of art from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collections and uses them as inspiration for an array of writing activities for K–12 students.
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