A Great Way to Celebrate Mother’s Birthday

VISITOR OF THE DAY

by the EDITORIAL TEAM, with HONG INOK and SUH SANG-IN

Mother and Art

Hong Inok showed talent in art as a child and after studying art education at university she worked as an art teacher until she got married. In her twenties, she mastered various genres featured in the art curriculum, such as calligraphy, Asian painting, Western painting, handicraft, and sculpture. On those days when she became totally immersed in painting, she would forget to sleep or eat as she concentrated on the canvas. So when she became a mother she naturally found it harder to find time for art. Instead, she fell in love with needlework, which made daily life happier for her, and has since then made many household items with embroidery, quilting, and knitting. Suh Sang-in, her daughter, remembers the history of the artworks that decorated

her parents’ house thanks to art-loving mother. She grew up watching the house filled up with not only her mother’s paintings but antiques, either bought or inherited, as well as paintings and sculptures by contemporary artists, and became attached to some of them.

One Special Day in the Year

Around the beginning of the year, Suh opens up the new year’s calendar and circles the birthdays of all her family members. After passing big events in life such as college admission, graduation, various award ceremonies, getting a job, and promotion, she found that there was less events to celebrate and so began to pay special attention to family birthdays every year.

Hong Inok’s birthday comes when the colors of autumn leaves are most beautiful, which makes her keen to travel. Around this time she used to go on long trips with close friends or travel overseas. But since the outbreak of COVID-19, she has celebrated her birthday in a different way.

In 2020, Suh made special plans for the day. She took her mother to Yangnimdong in Gwangju, where they had lunch at an Italian restaurant, then walked around the village filled with art and handicraft stores, and took pictures. October 2021, for an even more memorable birthday, she brought her mother from her home in the provinces to Seoul and organized a fourday itinerary, as if they were going on a trip.

A Memorable Birthday in the Digital Immersive Gallery

Suh Sang-in likes to spend time with her parents whenever she gets the chance. When she suggests they check out a trendy place, or try some new food or a different experience, both of them agree readily, which makes her think of her parents first when anything fun happens. After thinking about what her mother would like to do on her birthday in 2021, she suggested that they visit the National Museum of Korea, and as expected it was exactly the type of place her mother likes. Suh has visited the museum two or three times during the last ten years but it was the first time for her mother. Hong Inok is not very interested in shopping and hates busy, crowded places, so there was no place in Seoul that she particularly wanted to see. But the museum is another story. She had heard that the NMK was so big that it was impossible to see it all in one day, but when she stepped into the Path to History on the first floor it took her quite a while to adapt to the scale that was greater than she had imagined.

Both mother and daughter were curious about the Digital Immersive Gallery and were led inside as if under a spell. A realistic landscape painting of Geumgangsan Mountain was spread before their eyes, and the impression left by the gigantic screen showing the stunning changes of the seasons lasted for a long time. Suddenly, this thought crossed Hong’s mind—that the younger generation, who might find historical artifacts boring, could watch digital content first then conversely seek out the Album of Paintings of Geumgangsan Mountain by Jeong Seon, painter of the late Joseon period.

Beautiful Times to be Revived

Before traveling anywhere with her parents, Suh Sang-in likes to find out in advance whether a good exhibition will be held there. When they went to Yufuin Hot Springs in Japan three to five years ago, they visited the Chagall Museum, and once traveled to Naoshima solely to see Yayoi Kusama’s work. Suh knows from experience that memories of travel become clearer thanks to the artworks that are imprinted on her heart in a myriad of colors.

At the NMK, the size of the Donation Gallery was of the things that surprised Hong Inok the most. She was inspired to learn that the number of individuals who had donated precious cultural items, ranging from state-designated treasures to everyday items, was far bigger than she had imagined. Moreover, she felt deeply grateful to those people who donated their treasured cultural items to the museum so that they could be seen by many people. At the same time, she wondered whether

anything precious that had been handed down to her, generation to generation, would be suitable for donation to the museum.

When Hong studied Eastern-style painting under Jo Bang-won, late master of the Southern school style of painting, she came to own several of his calligraphy works and paintings, and thought it might be a good idea to donate them. In this regard, the wooden furniture in the Kim Chong-hak Gallery inspired her imagination. Although the furniture was hundreds of years old, she was impressed by how good it looked thanks to excellent preservation. It made her realize the importance of preservation and systematic management of donated items. As Suh Sang-in watched her mother slowly walk around, thoughtfully appreciating the old furniture, she added another scene to her memory of the museum. One day, when she comes back to the museum and passes by the same gallery she will clearly remember the day that she spent here with her mother.

Hong Inok

One-line comment

I want to come back to the museum whenI get the chance and spend time looking at the objects one by one.Three memorable points Pendant with incense case ornament,antique furniture, and vast collection of donated works

On the next

visitCollection special exhibition in April.

Chest with a Flap Door

Korea Wood /H.71.5cm, L.42.0cm, W.91.2cm /On display in the Kim Chonghak Gallery

Most impressive item

Bandaji chestI love antiques that show the signs of use. Old furniture is particularlyattractive with its clean, simple lines and natural beauty coming fromthe grain of the wood. Old wooden furniture items made hundredsof years ago reflect the past when the rooms occupied by men and women were strictly separated. It’s fun to look at the items whilewondering who used them.

Inok is often fascinated by beautiful and traditional handicraft works

Influenced by art-loving mother, Sang-in feeling familiar with fine wooden furniture

Suh Sang-in

One-line comment

Looking at my mother walk around seeking out the items that she’s interested in, I knew it was a good idea to come to the museum with her.

Three memorable points

The Digital Immersive Gallery, pleasant viewing conditions, and groups of children roving the museum with mission sheets in their hands as if they were explorers

On the next visit

I’ll bring my father as well.

Most impressive item

Painting of a Fisherman in Search of the Peach Blossoms

An acquaintance told me that this painting has been on permanent display since October, 2021 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Lee Hong-kun Gallery, so I made sure to see it. It was a work whose beautiful coloring has the power to draw you in and it was good to stand and look at it for a long time, fascinated by the ideal land that the artist admired, though it does not exist in this world.

Painting of a Fisherman in Search of the Peach Blossoms (detail)

Joseon Dynasty By An Jung-sik/ Silk/ 143.5 × 50.7 cm/ On display in the Lee Hong-kun Gallery