The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) is currently hosting a notable exhibition titled “Visible Storage: Lee Kun-Hee Collection World Masterpieces” from January 30th to June 30th, 2024.

This special showcase is set to take place at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Cheongju, featuring a selection from the MMCA Lee Kun Hee collection.

Donated by Lee Kun Hee, the former chairperson of Samsung Electronics who passed away on October 25th, 2020, the collection comprises over 1,488 pieces of artwork, including masterpieces by renowned artists such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Joan Miró.

Since acquiring the collection in 2020, the museum has meticulously handled the entire process of registration, preservation, and research of the artworks, many of which are now featured in the special exhibit.

Although the exhibit highlights only a portion of the entire collection, it focuses on seven remarkable artworks by prominent contemporary artists from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The exhibition commences with “The Water Lily Pond” by Claude Monet, a painting that vividly depicts water lilies blooming in his hometown of Giverny, France.

This piece accentuates the light reflecting off the lily pond's surface, showcases Monet’s fascination with capturing and emphasizing light in his paintings.

Following this, “Painting” by Joan Miró takes the stage.

As a Surrealist artist active from the 1930s to the 1950s, Miró was profoundly influenced by the subconscious and the inner world.

His work “Painting” reveals his signature style, utilizing bold colors and fluid forms to evoke a dream-like fantasy for viewers.

Another highlighted artwork is “The Marriage Bouquet” by Marc Chagall, who often explored themes of love and longing through vibrant and striking colors, a skill honed from his experience as a stained glass designer during the Second World War.

According to the museum, “The Marriage Bouquet” encapsulates his distinctive use of intense colors and the recurring motif of lovers that became a hallmark in his later work.

Also on display is “The Cereal Market in Pontoise” by Camille Pissarro, a French artist who regularly interacted with Claude Monet.

This piece depicts a woman wearing a headscarf amidst the bustling marketplace of Pontoise, a major industrial city of the time due to its cereal industry.

The artwork exemplifies Neo-impressionism, an artistic style that gained popularity in the 19th century , and provides historical insight into the development of Pontoise during the first industrial revolution.

The exhibition concludes with “Crane on the Banks of the Seine” by Paul Gauguin, “Family of Marsupial Centaurs” by Salvador Dali, and “André in Yellow Turban and Red Skirt” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Despite the smaller quantity of artworks compared to other exhibitions, these pieces stand out for their immense value, all crafted by prominent modern artists that had profound impacts on the history of contemporary art.

Considering that such artworks are rarely on display in Korea, the special exhibition is certainly worth visiting.

The exhibition is open from 10AM to 6PM throughout the week, with free admission for all visitors.

Hoonsung Lee
Grade 11
Cornerstone Collegiate Academy Seoul