Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Culture Minister Hwang Hee speaks during a press briefing to announce the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee's family donating his art collection to national museums in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
The family of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee has agreed to donate some 23,000 pieces of artwork from his extensive art collection, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday.
About 21,600 pieces, including 60 national treasures, will be donated to the National Museum of Korea. They include the Joseon-era landscape painting, "Inwang Jaseokdo," by painter Jeong Seon, which was designated as National Treasure No. 216 in 1984, and a Buddhist painting from the Goryeo era titled, "Painting of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion with a Thousand Arms," which was designated as Treasure No. 2,015 in 2019.
Some 1,400 pieces will be donated to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA). They include Korean painters' historic artworks including Lee Jung-seob's "Bull" and Park Soo-keun's "Woman Pounding Grain." A few Western paintings that are included in the list are Claude Monet's "Le Bassin Aux Nympheas," Salvador Dali's "Family of Marsupial Centaurs" and Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "La Lecture."
While most of the contemporary collection will head to the MMCA, some will be donated to museums in provinces outside of Seoul. The National Museum of Korea will unveil Lee's art collection to the public starting June, while the MMCA will start doing so in August.
"We would like to express our gratitude to the family of the late Chairman Lee, who donated the collection of cultural assets and artworks for the development and prosperity of Korean culture and arts," Culture Minister Hwang Hee said during a press briefing, Wednesday.
"This donation will help us to preserve cultural assets, protect people's rights to enjoy and benefit from culture and revitalize local museums and art galleries."
