Korean American patron’s quest to bring authentic Korean culture to US

Jay MacLean, left, an art patron of the Museum of Fine arts, Houston, looks at Bradley Bailey, a curator of the museum, as he speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at The Shilla Hotel, Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), one of the 10 largest museums in the United States, is preparing to revamp its Korea section with a modern twist.

Currently, the Arts of Korea Gallery at the museum primarily features works from the Joseon Dynasty. To meet growing demand from local visitors for broader representation, the museum plans to introduce modern and contemporary Korean art from the 20th and 21st centuries. To do that, the Houston museum is seeking to partner with Korea’s first and largest private museum, Kansong Museum of Art, to showcase authentic Korean art.

Bradley Bailey, the museum’s curator of Asian art, emphasized the MFAH’s commitment to its Korean collection, noting that it was the first museum in the American South to dedicate a gallery to Korean art.

“Many Korean artists are doing very interesting things,” Bailey said in an interview with The Korea Times on Wednesday at The Shilla Hotel in Seoul. “After World War II, postwar Korean artists did not receive enough attention, especially in the United States. Some gained recognition in Europe, but much less so in the U.S.”

Bailey arrived in Seoul on Sept. 1 for the international art fairs Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul. It was his second visit to Korea, following an unofficial trip in May. These visits, he said, opened his eyes to the depth and diversity of Korean art — an emerging field that is increasingly drawing interest from American audiences.

A specialist in Japanese art, Bailey only recently began exploring Korean art, spurred by the enthusiasm of Jay MacLean, a Korean American patron of the MFAH. Together, Bailey and MacLean have met with Korean artists and museum officials in Seoul to discuss potential partnerships aimed at expanding the Houston-based museum’s Korea section.

Bailey said he discovered several talented Korean artists during his visits and plans to acquire their works for MFAH’s collection, though he declined to name them, explaining he wanted to avoid driving up their prices.

Despite its currently small selection, the museum’s contemporary Korean art has proven popular with visitors. “They resonate with the public — not just Korean Americans, but the general public,” Bailey said. “One of my goals as curator is to bring the museum’s Korean collection, especially modern and contemporary works, in line with our outstanding 20th and 21st century collections.”

The museum’s growing interest in Korean art reflects the global success of Korean pop culture, particularly K-pop. Bailey noted that increasing numbers of American students are learning Korean and that this cultural wave has boosted interest in Korean products, from music to cosmetics.

“In the 1980s, Japanese language and culture were popular among American students. In the 1990s, it was Chinese. Now, it’s the heyday of Korean culture,” he said.

This shifting cultural landscape, Bailey added, is prompting younger Americans to explore all aspects of Korean culture and lifestyle — including its art and cosmetics.

Jay MacLean, a Korean American art patron, grins in an interview with The Korea Times at The Shilla Hotel, Seoul, on Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

While the popularity of K-pop and its influence on young Americans are significant, they alone cannot fully explain the Houston museum’s commitment to expanding its Korea Gallery.

The effort owes much to MacLean, who has worked to give Korean art a stronger presence in the United States and introduce Americans to Korea’s deeper cultural heritage.

MacLean, one of the MFAH’s patrons, called herself a self-appointed goodwill ambassador for Korean culture. Her advocacy began in 2017 after her family moved from San Diego, California, to Houston, Texas.

Korea’s cultural heritage has always been a source of pride and identity for MacLean.

“As someone living overseas, this heritage gives me a strong sense of identity and pride,” she said. “Sharing our culture with the world is not just about representing Korea — it’s also a way for me to stay connected to my roots. In a way, it helps me hold onto who I am.”

To spark curiosity about Korean culture, MacLean began wearing hanbok — traditional Korean attire — at major museum events and galas.

Bailey said he had often seen Japanese and Indian patrons wear their traditional clothing to significant events, but Koreans rarely did so. “Jay shows up in incredible hanbok at many important events in Houston,” he said.

MacLean hopes Americans will explore what she calls “real” Korean culture, which she believes goes far beyond the global fame of K-pop, K-dramas and Korean cinema.

“What many people around the world know as K-culture is just the surface,” she said. “Beneath that is a deep and rich cultural heritage that has developed over thousands of years. This traditional culture is the foundation of our national identity and a source of great pride for Koreans.”

Jay MacLean, second from left, poses with Jeon In-geon, director of the Kansong Museum of Art, after their meeting on Thursday. Courtesy of Jay MacLean

Positioning herself as a kind of civilian diplomat, MacLean personally funded Bailey’s first trip to Korea in May. The visit allowed him to explore modern Korean art as well as the country’s cultural legacy. One highlight was the Kansong Museum of Art, Korea’s first and largest private museum, founded in 1938 during Japanese colonial rule by Jeon Hyeong-pil, known by his pen name, Kansong.

Jeon (1906-1962), a wealthy businessman, dedicated much of his inherited fortune to preserving Korea’s cultural treasures. His collection includes masterpieces such as the Celadon Prunus Vase, designated as National Treasure No. 68, and the Hunminjeongeum, the original promulgation of the Korean alphabet Hangeul, designated as National Treasure No. 70. Jeon established the museum to safeguard Korean heritage at a time when much of it was at risk of being lost under rule by the Japanese colonizers.

The Kansong Museum withstood Korea’s turbulent modern history, from liberation in 1945 to the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Bailey described his visit as “eye-opening,” saying it gave him a firsthand understanding of Korea’s rich cultural legacy through its artworks and relics.

Although they lived in different times and places, MacLean and the late art collector Jeon share something essential: They both are passionate art lovers driven by patriotism and a deep commitment to preserving Korea’s cultural heritage. For each, cultural heritage represents a source of pride, and both devoted themselves to protecting it from loss or neglect.

Yet their roles differ. Jeon, who lived through colonial rule and war, served as a guardian of Korea’s cultural treasures at a time when the nation’s very identity was under threat. MacLean, by contrast, sees herself as a facilitator working to introduce Korean art to Western audiences so they can discover the resilience and beauty forged through centuries of historical turmoil.

MacLean and Bailey met with Jeon In-geon, director of the Kansong Museum of Art, on Thursday to explore a potential partnership that would allow the Houston museum to display selected works from its collection.

The Kansong Museum set the stage for Korea’s tradition of corporate art collections. Following Jeon’s example, several prominent Korean business leaders amassed their own private collections. Among the most renowned was the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, whose vast holdings include 1,369 Korean works spanning traditional paintings, crafts and sculptures, as well as international masterpieces by artists such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. Following Lee’s death in 2020, his family donated his collection to national and regional museums across Korea, greatly enriching the country’s cultural institutions.

Bailey noted that the quality of Korea’s corporate and family collections sets the country apart from the West.

“In the U.S. and Europe, corporate collections are not very good. They’re not highly regarded,” he said. “But some corporate and family collections in Korea are truly extraordinary. It reflects a very different model of patron-artist sponsorship, one in which corporations deeply value important art and artists.”

Jay MacLean, right, and Bradly Bailey pose at The Shilla Hotel, Seoul, on Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul