The overseas touring exhibition of the "Lee Kun-hee Collection," comprising donations from the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, has opened in Chicago following its Washington D.C. run.
The National Museum of Korea announced that the second exhibition of the Lee Kun-hee Collection's overseas tour, titled "Treasures from Korea: 2000 Years of Korean Art," opened at the Field Museum in Chicago on March 7 (local time). The exhibition runs approximately four months through July 5, about six weeks longer than the previous Washington D.C. showing.
The Field Museum is one of America's three major comprehensive museums, housed in a building constructed for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Chicago exposition was also the first venue where Joseon Dynasty Korea—following the 1882 Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States—introduced its history and culture to the international community through an exhibition.
According to the National Museum of Korea, "This exhibition features a total of 140 works comprising 257 pieces, including 127 works (244 pieces) of cultural heritage from the National Museum of Korea—among them 7 National Treasures and 15 Treasures, including Jeong Seon's 'Inwangjesaekdo (After Rain on Mount Inwang)'—as well as 13 Korean modern and contemporary artworks from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, by artists such as Park Soo-keun and Kim Whanki."
Featured works include Jeong Seon's "Inwangjesaekdo," Kim Hong-do's "Chusengbudo (Illustration of Ode on the Autumn Sound)," white porcelain bowls inscribed with the characters "Cheon, Ji, Hyun, Hwang," gilt-bronze Buddhist statues from the Three Kingdoms period, the Goryeo-era "Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara," and the early Joseon "Seokbosangjeol (Episodes from the Life of the Buddha)." These National Treasures and Treasures demonstrate the depth and diversity of Korean culture. Modern and contemporary Korean masterpieces are also on display, including Lee Jung-seop's "Bull" and Park Soo-keun's "Woman Pounding Grain."
On that day, Yoo Hong-jun, Director of the National Museum of Korea, delivered lectures on Korean culture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Korean Cultural Center of Chicago. Ji Yeon-soo, the Field Museum's inaugural Korea Foundation Curator of Korean Art, also presented a special lecture examining the philosophy, values, and traditions of Korean art.
The Lee Kun-hee Collection's overseas touring exhibition began its journey in November last year with the special exhibition "Treasures from Korea: Collected, Cherished, Shared" at the National Museum of Asian Art under the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. The exhibition attracted approximately 80,000 visitors, the highest attendance for any special exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art over the past five years.
Following the conclusion of the Field Museum exhibition, the British Museum is scheduled to take up the baton starting October 1.