The overseas touring exhibition of the "Lee Kun-hee Collection," comprising donations from the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, continues to Chicago after Washington, D.C.
The National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art announced on the 4th that they will hold "Treasures from Korea: 2000 Years of Korean Art," the second exhibition of the Lee Kun-hee Collection overseas tour, at the Art Institute of Chicago starting on the 7th. The exhibition runs approximately four months until July 5, about six weeks longer than the previous Washington, D.C. exhibition.
The Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's three major comprehensive museums, housed in a building constructed for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The Chicago fair was also where Joseon, which had signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States in 1882, first introduced Korean history and culture to the international community through an exhibition.
The National Museum of Korea explained, "This exhibition features 244 cultural heritage items across 127 categories, including 7 National Treasures and 15 Treasures from the National Museum of Korea's collection, led by Gyeomjae Jeong Seon's 'Inwangjesaekdo (After Rain at Mount Inwang),' along with 13 Korean modern and contemporary artworks from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's collection by artists such as Park Soo-keun and Kim Whan-ki."
Featured works include Jeong Seon's "Inwangjesaekdo," Kim Hong-do's "Chusungbudo (Autumn Sound)," white porcelain bowls inscribed with "Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow," gilt-bronze Buddhist statues from the Three Kingdoms period, "Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara" from the Goryeo Dynasty, and "Seokbosangjeol (Episodes from the Life of Buddha)" from early Joseon. These National Treasures and Treasures demonstrate the depth and diversity of Korean culture. They are joined by Korean modern masterpieces including Lee Jung-seop's "Bull" and Park Soo-keun's "Woman Pounding Grain."
Ji Yeon-soo, the inaugural Korea Foundation Curator of Korean Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, will deliver a special lecture illuminating the philosophy, values, and traditions of Korean art. National Museum of Korea Director Yu Hong-jun will also lecture on Korean culture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Korean Cultural Center of Chicago.
The Lee Kun-hee Collection overseas tour 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 drew approximately 80,000 visitors, the highest attendance for any special exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art in the past five years. After the Art Institute of Chicago exhibition concludes, the British Museum will take over the baton starting October 1.