<2009 New Collection> is a special exhibition to share the artistic value of collections and introduce the trend of modern arts by opening to the public the works that Seoul Museum of Art had collected in last year, and it will show about 70 new collections such as paintings, printmaking, sculptures, photos and so on.
Seoul Museum of Art has collected about 300 works through total 3rd collecting activities in last year. Among them, 253 works were purchased and 47 works were donated. Seoul Museum of Art have collected works in several genres such as 49 Korean paintings, 131 western paintings, 15 printmaking, 43 sculptures, 15 handicrafts, 2 calligraphies, 37 photos, 7 media arts and 1 installation, and as the result, total collections of Seoul Museum of Art become 2,807works.
Looking at the trend of collection in 2009, firstly the works of the late major artists such as Yoo, Young-kuk, Kim, Whanki, Pyo, Seung-Hyeon, Choi, Wook-kyung, etc. who are the representative artists of Korean modern art have been collected, and Min, Gyeong-Gap who is one of representative Korean colored painters donated his 36 works including which was specially selected at National Art Exhibition. Thus, the collections of Korean paintings have been supplemented qualitatively. Also, we had planed the qualitative improvement for the composition of collections by supplementing the existing collections by the time and the genre through the works of artist Han, Mook, Chung, Tak-young, Shim, Jung-soo, Choi, Man-lin, Kim, Byung-jong, Hong, Seung-hye, Hwang, Yong-yop, Cha, Ou-hi, Kwon, Sun-Hyeong and etc.
Meanwhile, we have extended the function of collections as ‘public art’ close to citizen by installing outdoor sculptures of artist Lee, Sang-Gil, Kim, Bang-Heui, Oh, Sang-Il, Noh, Jun, Lee, Ki-Chil and etc. dividing 10 sculptures at outdoor place of Park of Seoul and 2 sculptures at outdoor place of Nanji Art Studio. In case of a sculpture, also, lots of works beyond the traditional materials and methods such as Ji, Yong-ho’s works making use of scrap tires, Yang, Young-Hoi’s works making use of scrap iron and etc. had been collected. For photos, the aspect of photo collections which placed weight on documentary photos in the past has become more abundant because various works showing the extended trends of modern photos had been largely collected.
A collection is the one of the most important factors showing the character and the mission of a museum as the foundation to be existed it. The collection of artistic works is the tool to establish the identity of all museums and also, the trend of collection becomes the standard to estimate the direction that a museum will go forward in the future. Seoul Museum of Art will continuously play the role as the driving force of Korean art by showing the history of Korean modern art and collecting substantial works that it is possible to introduce the dynamicity of modern arts as the modern museum representing Seoul. Also, we will make constantly an effort to secure collections which are the cultural heritage of citizen, preserve them carefully and share them with citizen much variously than before.
