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New York's Met Museum opens exhibition on Mt. Kumgang

Posted February. 08, 2018 08:14,   

Updated February. 08, 2018 08:14

한국어

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, one of the three most renowned art museums in the world, opens a special exhibition themed on Mount Kumgang at its Arts of Korea Gallery. The purpose of the exhibition is to promote Mount Kumgang globally to commemorate the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Met Museum's Arts of Korea Gallery.

The Met Museum of Art said Tuesday (local time) a special exhibition “Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia” would open and run until May 20. “It is a pleasure to open a special exhibition themed on Mount Kumgang to coincide with Korea’s hosting of Winter Olympics and the 20th anniversary of the Met Museum’s Arts of Korea Gallery,” Met CEO and director Daniel H. Weiss said Tuesday.

The exhibition will feature 21 art works and 27 paintings depicting Mount Kumgang from Korean museums including the National Museum of Korea, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, the Seoul History Museum and the Seoul National University Museum. One of the highlights of the exhibition is Album of Mount Kumgang (Pungak-docheop, 1711) by Jeong Seon, whose artist name is Gyeomjae, after his trip to Mount Kumgang. This true-view landscape painting is a designated National Treasure (No. 1875) from Korea. Mount Kumgang by Shin Hak-gwon, whose artist name is Doam, will be displayed. The Met Museum purchased Shin’s painting last year.

Contemporary art works will be also displayed such as paintings by Shin Jang-sik, a painter and professor at Kookmin University who visited Mount Kumgang around 10 times.

“Artists in the late Joseon Dynasty tried to follow Jeong Seon’s style and he was a role model,“ said Lee So-young, a curator at the Met Museum. “The exhibition is significant to introduce Korea’s true-view landscape paintings in New York.”


Yong Park parky@donga.com