Biography

Yang Ki-hoon (양기훈, 楊基薰, born 1843) was a painter of the late Joseon and Korean Empire period, based in Pyongyang. He is best known for his paintings of wild geese among reeds (노안도). His art names were Seokyeon (석연) and Paegang Noeo, "old fisherman of the Taedong River," and he held a minor official post at the Sunginjeon shrine in Pyongyang. He gave the geese-and-reeds subject a scholarly character. He worked in ink and often inscribed Tang and Song poems on the paintings. The theme was popular because "reed-geese" (蘆雁) sounds the same as "peaceful old age" (老安), so these works served as wishes for longevity and a harmonious marriage. He and Jang Seung-eop, born the same year, were the two leading 19th-century painters of the subject and left the most examples. He also painted plum blossoms, crabs and flower-and-bird screens. For example, the National Museum of Korea holds a four-panel screen of his from 1901, showing a crab, chrysanthemums, geese and plum blossoms. His death date is uncertain. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives 1911, and the National Museum uses the same date. The National Palace Museum says "1919 or later," and other sources leave it unknown.