○ One of the core activities of the Seoul Museum of Art is the acquisition of new artwork. The museum’s efforts in this regard have so far helped it to amass a vast collection of 2507 art pieces. While this is a remarkable achievement, the museum continues to use its resources to completing the collections of various artists or periods in Korean art history.
○ It was as part of its acquisition project that the museum purchased the works by Gwon Ok-yeon, Yi Jun, Yi Eung-no, Jeon Roe-jin, Ha Jong-hyeon, Choe Jong-tae, O Seung-u, Kim Bong-tae, Yi Gyu-seon, Park Gwang-jin, Kim Gu-rim, Yeo Un, Park Sang-suk and others. The works of these artists had already been collected by the museum, but the collection was not sufficient to show the development of the artists by style or period. This meant that the museum needed to continue to purchase their works to supplement the existing collections and thus better explain the periods of change. As these artists occupy center stage in the history of Korean modern art and exerted a strong influence upon it, broader collections of their work will give a clearer picture of the development of Korean art. As for Autumn (秋, 1968), by Yi Jun, which was one of the museum’s most recent purchases, for instance, experts regard it to be a crucial work in explaining his transition to geometric abstraction.
○ The most important means of completing the museum’s collections has been through the purchase of the works it requires; however, the other equally important source to perfecting its collections is via donations. The donation of the works of some of Korea’s master artists, such as Park No-su, Gwon Yeong-u and Choe Deok-hyu, played, in fact, a crucial role in enhancing the quality and quantity of the museum’s collections of these artists. In 2008, other important donations were made to the museum.
○ The 2008 donations consisted of 45 photographs by Yuk Myeong-sim, collected under The Artist Series, and 35 paintings by Oh Seung-u, which included the paintings of the Ten Creatures of Longevity, landscapes depicting some scenic sites in Korea and renowned overseas Buddhist temples. The photographs of The Artist Series are portraits of some of Korea’s most admired artists, poets and Gugak musicians, including Kim Gi-chang, Yi Jong-u, O Ji-ho, Seo Jeong-ju, Park Mok-wol, Hwang Sun-won and Hwang Byeong-gi. The photographs are currently on exhibition in the museum’s Namseoul Gallery. The museum also made great efforts to achieve a balance between art genres by collecting the textiles of Yi Sin-ja, the ceramics of Yi Heon-guk and the calligraphy of Yi Su-deok.
○ Some of the works were collected via online subscriptions, including paintings by Choe Yeong-geol, Kim In-tae, Hwang Yong-jin, Seo Jeong-tae, Son Su-gwang, Gwon Gi-beom, Sin Geum-nye, Jeong Jin-yong, Hong Jae-yeon, Gang Jin-sik, Ha Gwan-sik, Hwang Hye-seon, Jo Mun-ja and Yi Jeong-ji, while others, including the works by Cha U-hi, Go San-geum, Jeong So-yeon, Park Seok-hwan and Yun Ae-yeong, were collected via the museum’s special art shows. The museum has also collected sculptural works for open-air exhibitions: Hand of Promise II by Gang Hi-deok on display in the sculptural park of Seoul Forest and Samgeunmok 2 by Yi Gil-rae resides in the open-air sculpture park of Nanji Studio.
○ A lack of exhibition space led the museum to divide the collection into several sections according to genre and to display them in turn. The first exhibition under the new system will be entitled New Acquisitions 2008, and the museum expects it to be an effective report of their acquisition activities up to now for art lovers visiting the museum.
