S. Korean museum mulls over revealing controversial artwork

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) is said to be considering a move to make public a controversial painting by late artist Chun Kyung-ja, industry sources said Sunday.

According to the sources, the MMCA is having an internal discussion whether to bring the painting "Beautiful Woman" to the public eyes and is likely to make a decision sometime this week.

"We've been hearing that we need to make the artwork public in order to prove its authenticity, and there were also requests by the bereaved family to do so," said an official who requested anonymity. "So we are mulling over the idea of showing the painting to gather opinions from art experts and the public."

The painting in question is one of the most famous artworks by Chun, a renowned Korean artist who died last year.

She abruptly left the Korean art scene when she was embroiled in a plagiarism scandal over the painting. She argued that the painting stored by the museum was not hers, while the museum claimed it was genuine.

If revealed, it would mark the first time for the painting to be made public in 25 years. Since the forgery scandal broke out, the museum has kept it in storage since 1991. (Yonhap)