NMK Receives Donation of the Late Samsung Chairman’s Collection

ISSUE

by KIM SEWON Curator of the Collection Management Division, National Museum of Korea

On April 22, the National Museum of Korea received over 21,600 pieces of 9,797 items from a collection of cultural heritage amassed by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. The items in the donation by the late chairman’s heirs include 14 items assigned national treasure status by the government and 46 more with the treasure designation. The collection is highly significant, for it spans the entire range of Korean archaeology and art history, with major categories ranging from pottery (Korean celadons and white porcelains as well as Chinese ceramics), classical paintings and calligraphic works, documents and writings, folk paintings, Buddhist artworks, metalcrafts, woodcrafts, folklore items, to stone sculptures. The donation is extraordinary not only for its tremendous scope but also its enormous size, which equals to around 75% of the 28,657 pieces the National Museum of Korea had received previously in contributions since 1946.

Scene of Inwangsan Mountain After Rain

Joseon Dynasty By Jeong Seon / National Treasure No. 216 / Gift of Lee Kun-hee

The cultural heritage from Lee’s collection serves to elevate the overall quality of the NMK collection. The diverse items are evenly spread over the entire Korean history timeline, and they strengthen the capability to support exhibitions at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul as well as at the regional national museums around the country. Of special note, pottery and handicrafts make up a large part of the new donation, areas where the NMK collection has been lacking. Now, the NMK has received a powerful impetus to expand the public’s right to enjoy culture through various new exhibits.

Preservation of calligraphy and paintings requires their periodic removal from display, causing problems for the museum to maintain an adequate exhibition. Importantly, the traditional paintings and calligraphic works donated are of high quality, greatly expanding the number of items available for exhibition. The donated pieces in the calligraphy and painting category include such masterpieces as Scene of Inwangsan Mountain after Rain (National Treasure No. 216) by Jeong Seon 1676–1759 and Theme of Chuseongbu, Sounds of Autumn (Treasure No. 1393), the last known work by Kim Hongdo 1745– after 1806. The NMK collection has also benefitted from rare Buddhist paintings acquired by the late Samsung Chairman such as Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara with One Thousand Hands (Treasure No. 2015) from the Goryeo period.

Cultural heritage from Lee’s collection with high utilization potential for museum exhibitions include the Gilt-bronze Standing Bodhisattva Triad (National Treasure No. 134), Gilt-bronze Standing Bodhisattva (Treasure No. 780), Buncheong Flat Bottle with Incised Tree and Bird Design (Treasure No. 1069), and Celadon Bowls and Dish with Inlaid Peony Design (Treasure No. 1039). Other donated items have great archaeological and historical value and will enhance the permanent exhibit in the Prehistory and Ancient History section of the National Museum of Korea. Take, for example, the Episodes from the Life of Shakyamuni Buddha, vol. 11 (Treasure No. 523-3), the Episodes from Shakyamuni’s Life, vols. 11 and 12 (Treasure No. 935), and the Sword with Ring Pommel (Treasure No. 776) from the Three Kingdoms Period. Many of the cultural artifacts without national designation donated this time have been known to the public through exhibitions at the Ho-Am Art Museum or Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, and therefore are also valuable for exhibition purposes.

The National Museum of Korea plans to organize the many donated pieces by category and material before registering them into the museum collection and managing them systematically. We applaud the intentions of the late Samsung Chairman Lee, who wished to share Korea’s cultural value and rouse cultural pride, and we respect the Lee family for unconditionally donating this vast collection to the nation. These cultural heritage items will be continuously displayed at exhibitions within the NMK system and other Korean museums as well as at Korean galleries in museums around the world.

The receipt of the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s collection has provided the National Museum of Korea with a platform for further advancement. We hope that this momentous occasion will attract the interest of people who love and care about Korean cultural objects and inspire more owners of cultural heritage collections to get into the donation spirit.

Buncheong Flat Bottle with Incised Tree and Bird Design

Joseon Dynasty / Treasure No. 1069 / Gift of Lee Kun-hee

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara with One Thousand Hands

Goryeo Dynasty / Treasure No. 2015 / Gift of Lee Kun-hee

Theme of Chuseongbu, Sounds of Autumn

Joseon Dynasty By Kim Hongdo / Treasure No. 1393 / Gift of Lee Kun-hee