In October 2020, Lee Kun-hee, the Chairman of Samsung Group had passed away. Korean peninsula was shocked not only by the passing of the leader of a major conglomerate, but also by the unveiling of his massive art collection. Sixty of which are national treasures, approximately twenty-three thousand pieces of artwork including Kim Whanki, Lee Jung-seob, Monet, and Picasso were revealed. Valued at over three trillion Korean won (2.6 billion US dollars), Lee’s collection is an unfathomable spectacle.
Lee’s collection was donated to National Museum of Korea, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) and other art museums as per the wishes of his bereaved family. National Museum of Korea and MMCA accordingly prepared exhibitions of Lee’s collection. National Museum of Korea, having received over 20,600 pieces, has already held two exhibitions since last September. The Korean people’s excitement is well-evinced by the thousands of reviews that flooded social media and the fact that the reservation website was paralyzed for 40 minutes due to high volume when ticket sales took off.
The one artwork that caught the most attention among Lee’s colossal collection ranging from the prehistoric age to the 21st century is Inwang jesaekdo (Scene of Mt. Inwang After Rain; National Treasure No. 216) by Jeong Seon. Born at the foot of Mt. Inwang, Jeong Seon is a master of Korean true-view landscape painting and was the painting instructor for King Yeongjo, the 21st King of Josun Dynasty, during his princehood. Jeong Seon is said to have painted Inwang jesaekdo as a get-well wish for his best friend Lee Byeong-yeon who is famous poet of Josun.
The most notable characteristic of Inwang jesaekdo comes from Jeong Seon’s unique brushwork that relentlessly shapes the dignity and splendor of the rocky surfaces of Mt. Inwang, where there is not a single patch of land he had not set his foot on. He accentuated the contrast of power through juxtaposing repeated daring vertical strokes of large brush and delicate detailing of fine brush. In addition, Jeong Seon effectively dramatized black and white contrast by painting the mountain and pine trees with dark ink but leaving the foggy mountainsides untouched, bringing out the vividness of the painting. These techniques that presented realism from an angle previously unheard-of truly set Inwang jesaekdo apart from the Josun landscape paintings of the time, which were heavily reliant on mimicking Chinese landscape painting styles. Unfortunately, Lee Byeong-yeon died mere four days after Inwang jesaekdo was completed. However, Jeong Seon’s endearing wish for his friend is preserved in the painting and now reaches everyone’s heart.
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| ▲ Woman in Yellow |
We must not overlook Lee’s modern and contemporary collection. A Collector’s Invitation: The First Anniversary of Lee Kun-hee’s Bequest currently exhibits Lee In-sung’s Woman in Yellow. In his time during Japanese colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula, Lee In-sung was widely considered as the most valuable treasure of Josun and the genius artist. He had impactfully triumphed numerous art contests in both Josun and Japan, and cumulated sponsors. Contrary to the then-dominant Japanese style of painting, Lee In-sung conceived his original watercolor technique and is praised for laying foundation for the novel Korean Western painting style. In Woman in Yellow, Lee In-sung portrays his wife in the image of an independent modern woman. Following an unfortunate loss of his family and suffering the Korean War, Lee In-sung was killed in a firearm accident at the age of 39.
Lee Kun-hee’s collection includes over thirty of Lee In-sung’s artworks including Dahlia, which suffers a dispute over its authenticity. All of Lee In-sung’s works in the collection were donated to Daegu Museum of Art, located in the artist’s hometown of Daegu. Let us hope that this sets the first step toward relieving the imbalance in access to cultural riches caused by urbanization.
It is unfortunate that Lee Kun-hee’s collection includes works of unverified origin and controversial authenticity disputes. Nevertheless, Lee’s dedication to protecting Korea’s cultural identity and its unique color is distilled to his art collection that has been passed onto the later generations. It is clear that Lee Kun-hee was an heir to Korean art and a collector of his era.
“Collecting and preserving cultural heritage is vital for the future of human culture. It is our obligation required of the times” Lee Kun-hee
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