‘Light and shadow’ in the domestic art world

People in the art world were sad when Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Korea’s largest private art museum that holds the best collection, went into a long hiatus. When Hong Ra-hee, director of the museum, quit in March 2017, all of the exhibitions at Leeum stopped.

“Amid a number of high-profile gallery launched by oil producing countries of the Middle East, Leeum’s hiatus is a big loss to the brand value of the country,” said Lee Myeong-ok, honorary chairman of the Korean Art Museum Association.

Forgery controversies on the artworks of Chun Gyeong-ja and Lee Woo-hwan shows the backwardness of Korea’s art market, which lacks systematic authentication. The controversy on the custom of ghost painting the artworks was also triggered by singer Jo Young-nam.

Still, there is hope. “The Hallyu” also came to the art world. Centre Georges-Pompidou, a world-class art museum, designed an exhibition for Korean painter Lee Eung-no and held it from September to November 2017. In the global auction market, Korean art, which was once represented by Kim Hwan-gi and monochromatic paintings, is expanding its range to many abstract painters, such as Kim Chang-yeol and Oh Soo-hwan. At its Hong Kong Sale in May this year, the Seoul Auction, Korea’s largest artwork auctioning company, sold “Stag” by Paik Nam-june at about 660 million won, renewing the artist’s record.

Sun-Mi Kim kimsunmi@donga.com