Kim Hong-do was basically the first Korean to draw regular people doing regular things

Before Kim Hong-do, Korean paintings were all about mountains, scholars drinking tea, and fancy court scenes. Then this guy showed up and started painting farmers wrestling, blacksmiths working, women washing clothes by the river. Revolutionary? Yes. Popular? Incredibly. He was King Jeongjo's favorite court painter and basically invented Korean genre painting. His work is like a photo album of 18th century daily life. Also, nobody knows when or how he died. He just... vanished from records after 1806. Mystery king.