As its name suggests, minhwa — the Korean folk paintings that flourished in the later centuries of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) — break decisively from the refined conventions of court art. Unbound by strict stylistic codes, the genre is marked instead by a raw charm and vitality. Some works abandon the rules of perspective altogether; others revel in daring color, fluid brushwork and playful compositions. Many brim with whimsical, even mischievous, details. With its distinctive subjects and widely varying levels of technical refinement, minhwa has come to be recognized as an art form in its own right. Gallery Hyundai’s new exhibition, however, moves beyond a rigid separation between folk and court painting. Rather than treating them as discrete worlds, it traces how the two traditions influenced each other. Painters, even those in royal service, did not live behind palace walls. They moved between the court and the world beyond it, fulfilling commissions both within the royal grounds and for affluent patrons elsewhere. Through such encounters, the iconography and scale associate