Calls grow to establish Nat'l Museum of Modern Art after late Samsung chairman's art donation

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sat, December 9, 2023 | 03:29

Arts

Calls grow to establish Nat'l Museum of Modern Art after late Samsung chairman's art donation

Posted : 2021-05-30 17:21

Updated : 2021-05-31 04:20

Kim Whan-ki's "Women and Jars" (1950s) is part of Lee Kun-hee's art collection donated to the MMCA. Courtesy of MMCA

By Park Han-sol

The news of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's massive art collection being donated to state-run museums across the country has arguably been the most exciting topic in Korea's art circles in recent months. With some 23,000 pieces of art and cultural artifacts at hand, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is mulling over a plan to build a new museum to house the collection.

But the prospect of a new museum for Lee's collection has also fueled calls to establish a national modern art museum in Seoul dedicated solely to the pieces belonging to the modern era ― an institution that, according to many in the art world, Korea currently lacks.

A committee representing nearly 400 members of the art community with such a goal in mind held a launching ceremony, Thursday. Its members urged the government to establish the National Museum of Modern Art, separate from the current National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA).

The proposed museum, they stated, will house nearly 1,000 works of art of the modern era that have been donated by Lee's estate to the MMCA in addition to the 2,000 modern art pieces it already owns. Under the committee's definition, Korea's modern art history consists of works produced from the mid-19th century during the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom up until the 1960s.

The group argued that an alternately proposed "Lee Kun-hee Museum" for Lee's vast collection of cultural assets and art altogether would end up being an inappropriate, confusing display, for these donations are a comprehensive mix of all ages and genres from the Bronze Age to the contemporary era.

"The collection ― from ceramics, publications, paintings to etchings ― has already been donated by the bereaved family members to different museums according to the works' periods, materials and genres. If we try to bring these together in a single space, it will become neither an art museum nor a gallery, but simply an unorganized 'general store-like' institution," said committee member Chung Joon-mo, a former chief curator at the MMCA.

Lee Jung-seob's "White Ox" (1953-54), part of Lee Kun-hee's art collection donated to the MMCA. Courtesy of MMCA

Instead, the committee highlighted the need for a national museum dedicated solely to modern art history, insisting that Korea's museology has failed to properly address that time period for a long time.

In terms of their periods of concentration and roles, "national art galleries and museums in many advanced countries are divided into the ancient (and the medieval), the modern after the Industrial Revolution and the contemporary," the group wrote in its declaration.

"Meanwhile, Korea still maintains a dual system ― the National Museum of Korea focusing on ancient and medieval times and the MMCA largely focusing on the contemporary. This attests to the vacuum of modern history."

Some of the listed examples of museums in other nations dedicated specifically to collecting and exhibiting works of the modern era include France's Musee d'Orsay, Germany's Neue Pinakothek, Japan's National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and Italy's National Gallery of Modern Art.

The upper floors of the Seoul Government Complex building in Gwanghwamun Square is one of the sites proposed by the committee for the establishment of the National Museum of Modern Art. Courtesy of Committee Advocating for the Founding of the National Museum of Modern Art

The committee proposed two options for the museum's location: the upper floors of the Seoul Government Complex building in Gwanghwamun Square and a currently empty Seoul City-owned plot in Songhyeon-dong, which is planned to become a public park.

The two sites were chosen based on their close proximity to the MMCA, the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Gyeongbok Palace and art galleries dotting the streets of Samcheong-dong. Together, they can form a large cultural hub in central Seoul, the group stated.

hansolp@koreatimes.co.kr