'Park Soo-keun's Work Returned to Hometown'... Park Soo-keun Art Museum Unveils 'Lee Kun-hee Collection'

5. 6. ~ 10. 17 Park Soo-keun Art Museum Hosts Special Archive Exhibition
Samsung Donates 4 Oil Paintings Including 'Girl Carrying a Baby' and 14 Drawings

'Hanil' (閑日 Leisure Day · 33x53cm Oil on canvas 1950s) [Provided by Yanggu-gun]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] The family of the late Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, has donated cultural assets and artworks to the nation, and the Park Soo-keun Art Museum in Yanggu-gun, Gangwon Province recently unveiled the 'Lee Kun-hee Collection' donated by Samsung.

The Park Soo-keun Art Museum announced on the 1st that "we have received a donation of 18 works from Samsung, including 4 oil paintings and 14 drawings by Park Soo-keun (1914?1965), a first-generation Western-style painter from Yanggu who represents modern and contemporary Korean art."

According to the museum, Mrs. Hong Ra-hee donated the works on behalf of the family to carry on the wishes and spirit of the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

The donated oil paintings are ▲ 'Girl Carrying a Baby' (34.3x17cm, oil on plywood, 1962) ▲ 'Nongak' (20.8x29.3cm, oil on hardboard, 1964) ▲ 'Hanil' (閑日, Leisurely Day, 33x53cm, oil on canvas, 1950s) ▲ 'Village Landscape' (24x39cm, oil on hardboard, 1963).

These are significant donations as they are key oil paintings by subject matter that the museum needed to secure. With this, the total number of oil paintings held by the Park Soo-keun Art Museum reaches 17.

In particular, the work 'Hanil' was submitted by Park Soo-keun as a recommended artist to the 8th National Art Exhibition of Korea in 1959. It is a precious piece that was exported overseas but returned to Korea after being sold at a Christie's auction in New York in March 2003.

The 'Girl Carrying a Baby' series is highly rare and seldom appears at auctions, making it a work that cannot be purchased even if there is a budget. Most depictions of girls carrying babies show the back or side view, but the donated piece is notable for facing forward.

'Nongak' was exhibited at the 'Park Soo-keun Posthumous Exhibition' held at the Seoul Central Press Center from October 6 to 10, 1965. It is one of the works whose ownership had been unknown since 1965. Until now, it was only known through slides of the posthumous exhibition donated by Park Soo-keun’s eldest son, painter Park Sung-nam, to the museum.

The donated drawings (sketches) include ▲ 'Tree and Woman' (26.4x18.8cm, pencil on paper, 1958) ▲ 'Tree and Girl' (21x14.5cm, pencil on paper, 1950s) ▲ 'Village Landscape' (15.3x22cm, pencil on paper, 1954) ▲ 'Jige Carrier' (20.9x14.3cm, pencil on paper, 1950s). These mainly depict the daily lives and scenes of ordinary people struggling to survive after the Korean War, sketched outdoors.

The formal value of Park Soo-keun’s works lies in the 'unique technique of oil painting' and the 'aesthetics of drawing lines.' With the 98 drawings previously collected by the Park Soo-keun Art Museum and the 14 newly donated drawings, the museum has secured a collection comparable to a specialized drawing art museum.

This donation comes just one year before the 20th anniversary of the Park Soo-keun Art Museum’s opening. To convey the significance and value of the donation to more people, a donation section was created in the archive exhibition planned to commemorate the 56th anniversary of Park Soo-keun’s passing.

The exhibition of the works, along with research and collected materials, will be operated by reservation only until October 17.

Meanwhile, in October 2004, Mrs. Hong Ra-hee, then director of the Samsung Museum of Art Leeum, attended the 2nd anniversary ceremony of the Park Soo-keun Art Museum (Honorary Director Yoo Hong-jun).

Mrs. Hong proposed purchasing private land near the laundry site next to the Park Soo-keun statue to create a birch forest. The birch forest planted from that donation has now become a healing spot for visitors to the Park Soo-keun Art Museum.

Through this connection, it seems the hope symbolized by the birch tree, whose flower language is 'I am waiting for you,' has finally been fulfilled as four oil paintings and fourteen drawings by Park Soo-keun have returned to the Park Soo-keun Art Museum.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.