[In-Depth Look] The Artist's Gift

Director Kim Bora

In the early 20th century, Europe experienced two wars. These wars made artists question the very essence of life. Many artists had to survive on their own in reality. For artists who show their work and survive based on it, this might be another time of war.

In 1964, the Mag Foundation Museum opened in the medieval town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence in southern France. It is a very special museum?beautiful but not enormous, and housing many works by famous artists.

Emile Mag (1906?1981), who ran a print workshop in Cannes, built friendships with artists while also operating a gallery through his business success. He sought to find what he could do for artists wandering in the art ecosystem destroyed by war, rather than focusing on his own profit. Thus, he exhibited and sold works by young artists who were either not famous or often controversial, such as Georges Braque (1882?1963) and Alberto Giacometti (1901?1966). These artists later became masters of modern art.

The Mag Foundation Museum was conceived by friends shortly after the Mag couple lost their young son to illness in 1953. The artists wanted to repay the invaluable support they had received from the couple over decades, helping them endure life despite their great sorrow.

The Mag couple secured initial funds by selling a large oil painting by Fernand L?ger (1881?1955) to the Guggenheim Museum in New York, USA. After that, the artists’ activities began in earnest.

The museum’s design was entrusted to Josep Llu?s Sert (1902?1983). The pink building nestled in the forest and the crescent-shaped roof pointing toward the sky seem to exude the fragrant atmosphere of southern France.

Joan Mir? (1893?1983) installed sculptures throughout the garden named after him and donated about 150 works. L?ger and Marc Chagall (1887?1985) created bas-reliefs and mosaic outdoor murals that harmonize with the bricks. Chagall spent his final years in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and was buried in a modest cemetery. His representative work reflecting on his life, "Life," is exhibited in the main space.

Giacometti had an even closer connection, donating 52 works including "Walking Man" to the Mag Foundation Museum. In addition, many artists such as Pierre Bonnard (1867?1947) and Henri Matisse (1869?1954) donated works, and the museum now holds about 40,000 pieces.

A small chapel was built in the garden for the Mag couple’s deceased son. This place, which is the origin of the museum, features Braque’s blue stained glass above the statue of Jesus, suggesting a spiritual communion. The breathtakingly condensed beauty of the space often becomes a sublime artistic experience even for those unfamiliar with its story. It is truly a museum created together by artists.

Ultimately, the young artists grew to become the strong roots of the Mag Foundation Museum. The passion of one person who cherished and supported contemporary creators must have been a great hope for artists in a desperate era. Perhaps that is why a strong vitality can be felt in their works here.

The most important point is that although the Mag Foundation Museum is located in a secluded forest that is not easy to access, it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. There are many museums around the world that hold excellent works. However, museums that possess value beyond the works themselves are rare.

The Mag Foundation Museum continues to communicate with contemporary young artists, honoring the founder’s will. In these times when art is shrinking, it is a mirror-like museum for us. Now is the time to pay more attention to artists. They may one day become precious gifts that can heal someone’s weary heart.

Curator · Director of Seongbuk-gu Art Museum