Types and Characteristics of Chwimukheon(醉墨軒)’s Personal Seals

In East Asian planar art, seals are an essential element signifying the completion of a work, as well as a medium through which the artist’s individuality and artistic orientation are expressed. Calligrapher In Young-seon, known by his art name Chwimukheon(醉墨軒), recognized the importance of seal engraving and collected a wide variety of seals, making active use of them in his works. The seals he favored throughout his life were not merely tools to finish calligraphic pieces, but also symbolic markers of his artistic exchanges with numerous calligraphers and seal engravers with whom he maintained close relationships. A seal loses its functional role upon the death of its owner, becoming merely an artifact. However, the seals left behind by an artist serve as valuable evidence of the artist’s perception of seal engraving, as indicators of personal networks, and as important tools for verifying the authenticity of remaining works. Recently, In Young-seon’s personal seals(自用印章) were photographed and compiled into four volumes of seal catalogues(印譜), revealing a total of 144 carved seals in 149 imprints. The seals used by In Young-seon include not only his own carvings but also works by his seniors, peers, juniors, disciples, and Chinese seal engravers. The traces of a life enriched through exchanges in the art of seal engraving are thus preserved intact in these seal relics. This paper classifies and analyzes In Young-seon’s personal seals by period and by engraver, examining their significance in the history of calligraphy and seal engraving. Furthermore, it explores the meaning of seal engraving within the context of the artist’s personal interactions. In Young-seon’s personal seals are not merely private artistic records; they hold great value as materials for tracing the trends of modern Korean calligraphy and seal engraving, and as tangible symbols of the close bonds among contemporary artists.