A Windy Day.

A windy day, 2014, Myungja Anna Koh

Artworks about windy days

   ​Yesterday it was windy 35 mph and rained in my area. When the wind blows like the speed, I can hear the rustling of branches, the flow of air through the street, the shaking of objects in the yard, and the sound of an ambulance passing by a nearby road. On a quiet night, only the wind flow is captured in my ear. Especially in the United States, most buildings are made of wood, so when stormy night comes, I can feel the airflow more realistically from the house itself.

  ​When I was in Germany, it was a concrete building when the wind blew, so I didn't have this vivid feeling of the wind, but instead, I had to hear the terrifying moving sound from the shutters in front of window. In Korea, the aluminum-framed windows make a rattling sound. With various styles, the wind blows a huge invisible stream of air that makes a lot of noise and carries a lot of energy.

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  ​Artists have described this airflow through paintings from various angles and perspectives. The traces of the wind are charged on the canvas as if they were still moving in the form of swaying branches, the skirt of a woman blowing in the wind, people holding hats that seem to be blown away by the wind, and rocking waves.

Stormy Weather at Etretat, Claude Monet

Jean Béraud (1849–1935), A Windy Day on the Pont des Arts (1880-1), oil on canvas, 39.7 × 56.5 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons.

Snow storm, William Turner

  
​  Some works come to my mind when the stormy wind blows. This painting is ChuseongBudo, a piece of Hongdo Kim, one of the representative painters of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. This painting tells the story of a muffled sound outside in the autumn breeze.

Treasure No. 1393 Kim Hong-do , a sample ink and ink painting. 214x56 cm, donated to Samsung Leeum Museum of Art

 
Contrary to the feeling of this picture, Kim Hong-do portrayed the flow of energy such as the flying sleeves of clothes and motion that change due to people's movement and the physical wind caused by the weather in 2D, but three-dimensionally as if seeing it in 3D.

Kim Hong-do's 'Mudong (舞童)', late 18th century, ink and light coloring on paper, 27cm×22.7cm, Treasure No. 527, 《Danwon Pungsokdo Book》, National Museum of Korea Collection

  ​Gim Hong-do (Kim Hong-do, born 1745, died 1806?-1814?), also known as Kim Hong-do, most often styled Danwon (Danwon), was a full-time painter of the Joseon period of Korea.

Kim Hong-do At the time, Joseon was a period called the cultural renaissance period. The dynasty promoted the arts, appointed artists as bureaucrats, and created related departments called Dohwaseo.

Dohwaseo or the Korean Royal Academy of Painting is an administrative office of Joseon drawing pictures requested by other administrative offices of Joseon.

  ​ It seems that the painters at that time were lucky to be able to become civil servants, earn a regular salary, and maintain their status for the rest of their lives without worrying about their livelihood. In such a "Dohwawon", Kim Hong-do was favored by kings and nobles, painted hard, and obtained a public office. 

 Due to his detailed depiction, magnificent handwriting, and expressive power to express the dynamics well, he became a famous painter favored by even the king, Jeongjo of his time. However, when Jeongjo, his favorite and supporter, passed away, his position was fallen down to the bottom. He spent almost a year and a half wandering without painting. Also, since the political forces that supported him are gone, in a word, the string falls, and he becomes like a kite without a string. 

 In his later years, he painted the picture below, suffering from poverty and disease.

  ​In the picture, an older man is sitting looking out. All the surrounding trees are dry and twisted. Even the moonlight on the left feels dry. Outside, the servant speaks to the older man. The wind is blowing. It looks like he's probably trying to prepare for the rain and the wind. The older man replies: It is not the sound of the wind. It is the sound as time.

  ​This painting is regarded as an autobiographical painting that revealed his feelings about the impermanence of life and his philosophy on approaching death and withering. Compare to his paintings during glory time, which was powerful, majestic, and lively, it lacks somehow strength, but for some reason, I think this painting expresses the feeling of wind well by comparing it to life. That's why it comes to mind when the wind blows.

In the East, the futility of possessions and attachments in life is expressed in this way.

  人生無常

If you apply the letters as they are, human life is always nothing.
In other words, the meaning of life-free (life-free) means that human beings (人), born (life), never-before (non-existence), and always-same (常) are not always the same and are transitory. The works of Kim Hong-do, a painter who experienced this “free life” with his whole body, contain the philosophical meaning of his entire life, encompassing all his works.

  ​When the wind blows, everything shakes and falls. The maple leaves, which boasted their splendor in late autumn, fall to the floor and fly away with the sound of the wind. The wind changes everything. And it makes it visible that things that seemed immovable eventually move, wither and disappear. Sometimes, I love the cool breeze blowing in spring, the wind felt with the sound of the waves on the beach, and the mint-scented wind that actively delivers phytoncide from the beautiful forest. The existence of wind is always around us in the form of these various energies.

  It flows like the wind, but it is like a time when we do not realize it and then suddenly realize it. Time passes like the wind. Time is also irresistible, just as you cannot catch or stop the flowing wind.

 The old painter wanted to capture the energy of this time and the memories of crying and laughing in it with a brush. 

  And when he painted this picture, of course, there was sadness and regret for his glory that passed as quickly as an arrow shot, but I think he must have been happy to be able to talk about life again with the same brush as a lifetime best  friend.