The overseas tour of the "Lee Kun-hee Collection," which brings together donations from the late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, is set to continue in Chicago after Washington, D.C.
According to the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on the 4th, the second exhibition of the Lee Kun-hee Collection overseas tour, "National Treasures of Korea: 2,000 Years of Korean Art," will open at the Art Institute of Chicago starting on the 7th. The run will last about four months through July 5. It is about a month and a half longer than the Washington, D.C. show held earlier.
This exhibition, intended to comprehensively cover 2,000 years of Korean art, will feature a total of 140 works comprising 257 pieces, ranging from artifacts of the Three Kingdoms period to late-20th-century contemporary painting. From the National Museum of Korea's collection, 127 works comprising 244 pieces of cultural heritage will be shown, including seven national treasures such as "Inwang Jesaekdo" by Gyeomjae Jeong Seon and the "Gilt-bronze standing triad of bodhisattvas" from the Three Kingdoms period, as well as 15 treasures. ◎ ▲
From the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's holdings, 13 masterpieces will be presented, including Kim Whanki's "From the sound of 19-II-73#307," and, among the representative works of the Lee Kun-hee Collection, Lee Jung-seop's "Bull" and Park Su-keun's "Woman pounding grain." Earlier, the chairman's family donated the late Lee's collection to the state in 2021, with classical works now held by the National Museum of Korea and modern and contemporary works by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
This exhibition is the first large-scale special exhibition of Korean art at the Art Institute of Chicago in 46 years. It is also part of the National Museum of Korea's 2022 agreement with the Art Institute of Chicago to support Korean galleries at overseas museums. Ahead of the opening, National Museum of Korea Director Yoo Hong-jun and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Director Kim Sung-hee will visit Chicago to deliver related lectures and promote Korean culture.
The first overseas tour stop of the "Lee Kun-hee Collection," held at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, opened later than planned due to a temporary federal government shutdown, but still proved a hit, drawing about 80,000 visitors. It was the highest attendance among special exhibitions at the National Museum of Asian Art over the past five years.
Meanwhile, the third special exhibition venue on the Lee Kun-hee Collection's overseas tour is the British Museum in London. After the Art Institute of Chicago show runs through July 5, a special exhibition will open across the Atlantic in London.