By Bae Ji-sook
Bae Ji-sook
The Korean Art Appraisal Institute Wednesday announced the late Park Soo-keun's ``A Wash Place,'' the nation's highest priced painting ever, is authentic. But an art magazine, which alleged the piece is a fake, rejected the statement.
The auction company, which initially traded the painting, said it would file a libel suit against the magazine.
The appraisal institute said that 20 experts reappraised the piece for five hours to find the 4.52 billion won painting to be authentic.
However, art magazine Artrade editor Ryu Byeong-hak reportedly said appraisal was closed to the public and therefore lacks credibility. Also the fact that Prof. Choi Myeong-yoon of Myongji University, the nation's No.1 art appraiser, refused to join the appraising team amplifies the doubt, he said.
The dispute over the painting ignited at the end of last year when Artrade first raised the question of the authenticity of the oil work by the nation's all-time-favorite painter. The magazine claimed that the work is different from the original one recorded in Park's Collection published in 1995.
Then, Seoul Auction, who dealt the painting to a private collector last year, strongly denounced the allegation, citing it was an American collector, who received the work directly from the artist and kept it for about 50 years.