Chun's controversial 'Beautiful Woman' on public view
A reporter takes a picture of “Beautiful Woman” on display at the "Cracks in the Concrete: from the MMCA Collection” during a press preview of the exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. / Yonhap
MMCA removes artist’s name from caption
By Kwon Mee-yoo
“Beautiful Woman,” which unintentionally became one of the most famous works of art in Korea, appeared in front of the public for the first time in 26 years.
The 1977 painting was known as painted by the late artist Chun Kyung-ja (1924-2015), but the artist claimed it was a counterfeit in 1991, stirring up the largest forgery scandal in Korea’s modern art history.
The controversy surfaced again when the artist passed away in 2015 and her family filed a suit against the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), which holds the painting, for assessing the artwork as authentic despite the artist's denial.
Photographs of the painting appeared often in the news, but the actual piece was locked away safely in the national museum’s storage, until the museum decided to include it in the "Cracks in the Concrete: from the MMCA Collection” exhibition at the Gwacheon branch.
MMCA director Bartomeu Mari said showing the painting to the public does not conclude the conflict and the showing reflects his policy of being transparent in running the museum.
"We hope this small painting will become an artwork again rather than a subject of controversy. We should have shown it earlier," Mari said.
The painting in question is rather small ― 29 centimeters tall and 26 centimeters wide ― and is displayed in a separate area along with the archive, drawing sole attention. To prevent any mishap, bulletproof glass is installed over the painting. Last December, the prosecution appraised "Beautiful Woman" as genuine, but the museum calls the painting only with its serial number "KO-00352" without specifying the author's name.
The rail-like structure in front of "Beautiful Woman" in fact is also an artwork ― Kim Min-ae's "Relatively Related Relationship 2." Visitors can come right up to the artwork and see the glitter of stone color used for the painting.
The archive section presents the history of the forgery controversy around the painting, starting with the documents showing how the painting was transferred to the museum. A collection of Korean modern art published in 1990 including a photocopy of the painting and a brochure for the museum's travelling exhibit that showcased the painting in question are also on display.
Curator Lim Dae-geun said the exhibit is organized to break frames in appreciating artworks and "Beautiful Woman" was included as the curator aims to shift perspective on the artwork.
"We are bound by the authenticity issue and I think the scandal could lead to more discourse regarding what the public believes and how legitimacy changes in the process of time," Lim said.
The exhibit runs through April 29, 2018. Visit mmca.go.kr for more information.