[Interview] Opened, Korea's New Treasure Vault... "Gansong's Cultural Assets Are Our Nation's History"

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Bo Hwha Gak (Gansong Museum of Art), celebrating its 86th anniversary this year, has completed 1 year and 7 months of restoration and renovation work and is reopening to welcome visitors. The Gansong Museum of Art was the first private art museum established by Gansong Jeon Hyeongpil (1906?1962) to collect and preserve Korean cultural assets such as paintings, ceramics, Buddhist statues, and stone pagodas that were being exported to Japan during the Japanese colonial period. The founding philosophy of ‘Cultural Patriotism (文化保國),’ which means protecting the spirit of the nation through culture, has been passed down from Gansong to his two sons and even to his eldest grandson.

After 1 year and 7 months of repair and restoration work, the Kansong Art Museum in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul has reopened. In an interview with Asia Economy, Jeon In-geon, director of the Kansong Art Museum, revealed that many materials that had been dormant in the storage, including the original design drawings of Bohwagak (the former name of the Kansong Art Museum) and previously unreleased calligraphy and painting artifacts, were discovered for this reopening exhibition.
[Photo by Kansong Art Museum]

Gansong’s eldest grandson, Jeon In-geon (53), the director of the Gansong Museum of Art, resembles his grandfather a lot. Not only in appearance and stature but also in his quiet personality and reluctance to be in the spotlight. To carry on his grandfather’s life and spirit, he established the Gansong Art and Cultural Foundation in 2013 and has been leading the museum’s active popularization.

- After 1 year and 7 months of restoration, the museum is reopening. What has changed?

▲ Bo Hwha Gak was built in 1938. For about four weeks a year, it functions as a museum, but for the rest of the time, it was used as a research institute for a long period, which limited the ability to maintain its original form. Also, in 2019, the building was designated as a Registered Cultural Heritage of Korea, making restoration and repair necessary. Within this, we secured enough space to expand the entire exhibition area and paid special attention to lighting and illumination. In this reopening exhibition, we are unveiling for the first time the architectural plans of Bo Hwha Gak designed by architect Park Gil-ryong, discovered in the storage during the construction, as well as the butterfly painting 'Hwajeopdo' by the flower painter Go Jin-seung, which was previously only recorded. We improved the display cases so that the colors of the exhibited works can be seen accurately and blocked ultraviolet rays to preserve the artworks longer.

- What is the ‘Cultural Patriotism’ spirit of the Gansong Museum of Art?

▲ Until about 100 years before Japan’s infringement on Korea’s sovereignty, Joseon was culturally ahead of Japan. Due to this cultural anxiety, Japan imposed unprecedented cultural oppression on our people, including forced name changes and language eradication, and systematically plundered and destroyed cultural assets. In response, Gansong purchased cultural assets scattered across the country to protect them from Japan and pioneered the path of ‘Cultural Patriotism.’ The ‘Gansong Collection’ based on this gave birth to Bo Hwha Gak, today’s Gansong Museum of Art. Korea is a country with outstanding cultural capabilities. Even if not the first, it has the power to develop existing things into the world’s best. Examples include Goryeo celadon that developed Song dynasty celadon, the true-view landscape paintings by Geumjae Jeong Seon who independently restructured Southern and Northern painting styles, and today’s globally loved K-pop. I believe the ‘Cultural Patriotism’ spirit is about helping people understand this history and feel pride.

Citizens visiting the Kansong Art Museum Photo by Yonhap News

- You succeeded your father as museum director. Was this your father’s wish?

▲ He never said or emphasized it. But I think I naturally learned and felt it by watching and listening beside my father. Once, during my school days, my father wanted to paint, so my grandfather bought him oil paints. My father went out to play ball because the weather was so nice while painting. Oil paints harden and become unusable if not washed immediately after use. When my father returned home hours later, my grandfather had cleaned the brushes, and my father expected to be scolded, but my grandfather said nothing. After that, until he passed away, my father always washed his brushes and palette himself and worked without an assistant. My father learned from my grandfather through actions rather than words, and I also felt and learned that way. In fact, my father was an artist in the U.S., but when my grandfather suddenly passed away from acute pyelonephritis, he returned to Korea, gave up his dream, and devoted his life to running the Gansong Museum of Art and Boseong Middle and High School. I have followed my father’s footsteps, who quietly put aside his own dreams for a greater purpose.

Jeon In-geon, the director who has preserved Bohwagak (the former name of the Kansong Art Museum) for three generations, emphasized, "The cultural assets of the Kansong Art Museum are not my personal heritage but the history of our nation," adding, "They are neither mine nor ours, but must be fully passed on to the next generation."
[Photo by Kansong Art Museum]

- In early September, the Daegu Gansong Museum of Art is set to open.

▲ It was completed after about two years of construction, and including the preparation period, there were about ten years of ups and downs. We are preparing for the opening in September. The opening exhibition will showcase representative national treasures and treasures owned by the Gansong Cultural Foundation, such as Shin Yun-bok’s Portrait of a Beauty, Hunminjeongeum Haerye (Explanation and Examples of the Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People), and celadon inlaid plum and crane pattern vase. This is the first fruit of our goal to provide opportunities for people outside Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to enjoy artworks more comfortably.

- The collection in the storage is so vast that new works were discovered even during this restoration. It must be a significant burden to protect such a legacy.

▲ How could there be no pressure? But the cultural assets of the Gansong Museum of Art are not my personal heritage but the history of our nation. They are not mine or ours but must be passed on intact to the next generation. Descartes’ famous saying, ‘I think, therefore I am,’ is my motto. It means that constantly thinking and striving is more important than anything else, and I often repeat this. Isn’t a true human being one who never stops trying?

The "Diary Ledger" unveiled at this reopening exhibition is a book in which Kansong Jeon Hyeongpil recorded deposit and withdrawal details from 1936 to 1938, meticulously documenting transactions from January to December each year. It contains purchase records of treasures such as Sim Sa-jeong's "Chokjando Scroll," which has been designated as a national treasure.
[Photo by Kansong Art and Culture Foundation]

- What are your future goals and plans?

▲ Since the foundation was established in 2013, although I had been working behind the scenes before, just as I worked as a section chief when my father was director, I continue to do the same work as a section chief-type director now. Showing our ancient art and old cultural assets to more people more comfortably and making them want to learn more. This is the unchanging goal of the Gansong Museum of Art going forward.

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