K-Beauty - Beauté coréenne, de Joseon à la K‑pop

The exhibition focuses on how the same concern for balance between naturalness and refinement has traversed eras, from the Joseon court canons to today's globalized aesthetic standards.

The route brings together a dense collection of works: portraits and paintings, garments and hanbok, containers and grooming objects, as well as contemporary creations that make palpable the continuity and transformation of Korean beauty codes.

Among the presented loans and collections are international and Korean institutions—the National Museum of Korea, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Seoul's MMCA complement Guimet’s collections—giving the exhibition a rare scale outside Korea.

The route also juxtaposes historic pieces with contemporary proposals, notably creations by Lee Young-hee, to show how textile heritage still inspires current design.

The scenography follows a chronological and thematic logic: opening with the late Joseon era and the Miindo (portraits of beauties) sets the foundation, before addressing grooming practices and traditional remedies, then 20th-century changes and the birth of modern K-Beauty—up to echoes of heritage forms like the moon jar in packaging design.

Exhibiting so many archives and international loans at the heart of the Guimet Museum is a precious opportunity to perceive, on a single path, the resonances between history, craftsmanship, and popular culture. It is an invitation—scholarly yet accessible—to rediscover Korea through aesthetics and care.

Portraits of women and aesthetic canons of the Korean court The route opens on the late Joseon era. Women of high society then lived secluded in separate apartments, hidden from view.

In the eighteenth century, however, they became the subject of novels and an unprecedented pictorial genre: the Miindo, or portraits of beauties.

Attributed to Kim Hong-do (1745–1814?), Woman Combing Hair, late 18th century, color on paper, 24.7 × 26.0 cm National Museum of Seoul University Shin Yun-bok, known as Hyewon, forged the emblem of a distinctly Korean beauty by depicting courtesans gisaeng through a male and transgressive lens.

These socially marginalized women wear heavier makeup, eccentric headdresses, and colorful outfits. His fluid line and delicate colors imbue genre painting with sensuality and modernity.

Joseon canons, forged between balance and virtue, continue to nourish Korean popular culture. Photographer Kim Jung-man dialogues with this heritage in his series The Women of Shin Yun-bok (2014).

Nineteenth-century norigae ornamental pendants from the Lee Young-hee donation complete the ensemble. The fashion designer (1936–2018) created silk hanbok replicas inspired by the Miindo.

She made traditional costume a field of transmission and experimentation. This visual heritage continues into the webtoon The Red Sleeve, where King Jeongjo's Korea (1752–1800) adopts contemporary codes.

From Joseon grooming practices to archaeological discoveries Visitors then enter the world of cosmetics and remedies. From the late 15th century, education manuals for court women described grooming, hairstyling, and perfume practices.

Influenced by strict Neo-Confucianism, Korean beauty favored a clear complexion, groomed hair, and daily ablutions. 1613 Date of compilation of the Donguibogam, major medical treatise of the Joseon era The gyubang, a space reserved for women in the traditional house, housed refined material culture.

The Donguibogam, compiled by physician Heo Jun, gathered herbal recipes, diagnostics, and aromatic preparations. This treatise highlights the link between health and aesthetics in pre-modern Korea.

Lee Young-hee (1936–2018), Miindo hanbok, 1990s, silk hanbok replica inspired by Shin Yun-bok’s Miindo painting This costume is part of Lee Young-hee’s historical reconstruction approach, who methodically studied clothing from the Joseon period to create faithful replicas in fine materials.

The designer began her international presentations in 1993, becoming the first Korean stylist to participate in Paris ready-to-wear. In 2019, her daughter donated nearly 1,300 pieces to the Guimet Museum, forming the largest collection of Korean textiles outside Korea.

The Miindo hanbok translates late eighteenth-century Joseon aesthetic canons into silk, making the traditional costume a bridge between ancient heritage and contemporary creation. The hairstyle indicates social status.

Combs, binyeo pins, perfumed oils, and plants like black sesame accompany daily routines. Pocket mirrors, lacquered powder cases, and compartmentalized boxes form a delicate ensemble.

Their materials evolve from Goryeo-era celadon (918–1392) to the first cardboard boxes of the 1920s.

From the New Woman movement to the Hallyu wave, the twentieth century upheaves Korean aesthetic codes. Women from the New Woman movement cut their hair short influenced by Western flappers, while the hanbok modernizes.

After the Korean War (1950–1953), Western fashion imposed itself and coexisted with traditional beauty. From the 1880s, photography staged Korean elegance.

The Louis Marin collection at the Guimet Museum preserves studio portraits where traditional costume and European accessories coexist. Paintings by Kim Eun-ho (1892–1979) and Kim In-soong (1911–2001) juxtapose local heritage and Western influences.

The film My Sassy Girl (2001) popularized the image of a well-groomed masculinity in South Korea, accelerating the international spread of K-beauty codes. Kim In-soong (1911–2001), Listening, 1966, Seoul, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Trained in Japan in the 1930s, Kim In-soong was one of South Korea’s first oil painters.

In Listening, he juxtaposes typically Korean elements — traditional furniture and moon jar — with Western objects such as a turntable and vinyl records. This canvas creates a renewed Korean identity, capturing the delicate balance between ancient aesthetics and external influences that characterize post-war Korea.