the large mountain beyond. Built three years a昀琀er the the mountain is An’s fabrication. Topographically, the founding of the Joseon dynasty in 1392, Gyeongbok autumn version is more accurate. Mount Baegak and Palace was the symbolic seat of the Joseon kings. The title Gwanghwamun do not align; the imposing peak is to the of this painting comes from the four- character inscription gate’s west. In repositioning the immovable mountain notably written in an archaic script o昀琀en favored for titles. to the center in the summer version, An calls back to a tra- The adjacent, smaller inscription, written in a more dition of imagined, poetic landscape painting in which a standard script, provides the date, “summer 1915.” An monumental central mountain would serve as a represen- made a second, very similar painting with the same tation of strong governance and order. With the palace title and year, but linked it to autumn in the inscription closed, Mount Baegak is not an emblem of governance (昀椀g. 29). Which begs the question, why do they share the but of the land itself. Sovereignty is lost, but the land is title “spring dawn” when the inscriptions refer to summer still strong and thriving, and in that An seems to 昀椀nd the and autumn, respectively? An rendered Gwanghwamun hopefulness of a spring dawn. quite faithfully, but he does not portray Gyeongbok Real and imagined landscapes, along with feelings of Palace and its environs as they looked in 1915—he has inaccessibility and nostalgia, took on a di昀昀erent form a昀琀er created romanticized representations of reality.�� A昀琀er the Korean War. The 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement 1910, Gyeongbok Palace was no longer the seat of gover- brought about a cease-昀椀re and the establishment of the nance, and the colonial Japanese government systemati- demilitarized zone (DMZ) near the thirty- eighth parallel cally changed the palace architecture, destroying many north. The aforementioned famed Mount Geumgang is buildings and replacing them with temporary exhibition situated north of the parallel, making it a faraway paradise halls.�� The road leading to Gwanghwamun was a busy and a symbol of loss for those living south of the DMZ. thoroughfare, but An’s paintings are devoid of people Byeon Gwan- sik 昀椀rst learned painting from his and activity. In the summer version, the dense trees look maternal grandfather, the court painter Jo Seok- jin like overgrowth, enveloping and overtaking the vacated (조석진 趙錫晋, 1853–1920), before studying in Tokyo in palace, and the doors of Gwanghwamun are 昀椀rmly the 1920s. In the 1930s and 1940s, he traveled extensively, shut—the palace and the sovereignty it represented are visiting Mount Geumgang many times. A昀琀er the Korean inaccessible. Yet the looming Mount Baegak exudes War, Byeon created numerous images based on his vivid natural grandeur and solidity. Compared to the autumn memories of the site.�� Bodeok Cave, from 1960, illus- version and contemporary photographs, the centrality of trates Byeon’s skill in using scale and perspective to 25