World's top 200 art collectors list includes 2 Korean entrepreneurs
Kim Woong-ki, chairman of the apparel manufacturer and exporter Global Sae-A Group / Courtesy of Global Sae-A Group
Two Korean entrepreneurs – Kim Woong-ki of Global Sae-A Group and Suh Kyung-bae of Amorepacific – have been named among the Top 200 Collectors of 2023 by ARTnews.
This marks the second consecutive year for both figures to secure a spot on the list of the world’s most influential collectors, published annually by the leading U.S. art magazine since 1990.
Kim, chairman of the apparel manufacturer and exporter at Global Sae-A Group, made headlines last year when he was revealed to be the winning bidder for modern abstractionist Kim Whanki’s stately blue dot diptych, “Universe 5-IV-71 #200” (1971), at a 2019 Christie’s Hong Kong auction. The painting set a record as the most expensive Korean work ever auctioned, fetching HK$88 million (13.2 billion won).
The news coincided with the announcement of his company’s new gallery, S2A, located inside its headquarters in Seoul’s Gangnam District. Since its opening, the gallery has hosted exhibitions featuring the works of Kim and iconic Japanese master Yayoi Kusama, among other prominent creatives.
Suh Kyung-bae, chairman and CEO of the cosmetics giant Amorepacific / Courtesy of Amorepacific
Suh, chairman and CEO of the country’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific, is well-known for his collection of traditional and contemporary Korean art. His company operates the Amorepacific Museum of Art at its headquarters in Seoul’s Yongsan District, an institution dedicated to the research and exhibition of the country’s art since its establishment in 1979.
This year, the museum hosted “Beyond Folding Screens 2,” a survey of 51 rare decorative folding screens produced between the late Joseon period (1397-1910) and the early modern era, as well as Asia’s first retrospective of American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner (1942-2021).
Other Korean entrepreneurs and art figures previously listed on the Artnews’ Top 200 Collectors include late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee and his wife Hong Ra-hee, former director of the Leeum Museum of Art; Paradise Group Chairman Phillip Jeon and his wife Choi Yoon-jung, who heads the Paradise Culture Foundation; Arario Group Chairman Kim Chang-il; and Lee Hyun-sook, founder and chairwoman of Kukje Gallery.