A ‘House’ Reflecting the Life of an Artist Transforms into an ‘Art Museum’ for Jongno Residents

Jongno-gu to Sign 'Business Agreement for Establishing a Public Art Museum' at Ghana Art Center on the 23rd at 3 PM... Agreement Recipients Include Painter Kim Chang-yeol, Late Painter Lee Hang-seong, and Collector Kim Yong-won... Over 100 Works by Senior Painters and Collectors to Be Donated Free of Charge

Artist Kim Chang-yeol's Residence

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jongno-gu (Mayor Kim Young-jong) will sign a 'Business Agreement for the Establishment of a Public Art Museum' on the 23rd at 3 p.m. at the Ghana Art Center (Pyeongchang 30-gil 28) with three senior painters and collectors.

The agreement parties include Painter Kim Chang-yeol (1929~), famous for his water drop paintings, the late Painter Lee Hang-seong (1919~1997), a pioneer of Korean-style printmaking and publisher of art textbooks, and Kim Yong-won (1935~), CEO of the publishing company Life and Dream, known as an art enthusiast.

This business agreement is being carried out to transform the residences of renowned senior artists in the Jamunbak area, who have gained fame both domestically and internationally, into art museums.

Additionally, creative works will be donated free of charge, organized by era and theme, and showcased through themed exhibitions.

At the signing ceremony, Jongno-gu Mayor Kim Young-jong will be joined by Kim Si-mong (son-in-law) and Kim Ji-in (daughter-in-law) from Painter Kim Chang-yeol’s side, Lee Seung-il (son) and Yang Young-sook (daughter-in-law) from the late Painter Lee Hang-seong’s side, as well as collectors Kim Yong-won and Kim Jin-young (son), who have collected various artworks.

On this day, Jongno-gu and the senior artists will pledge mutual cooperation to ▲ sequentially promote the establishment of a public art museum considering the district’s financial conditions ▲ donate more than 100 artworks free of charge ▲ and establish the public art museum utilizing the artists’ residences.

World-renowned master Painter Kim Chang-yeol is famous for using water drops as the subject and theme of his works. He began painting water drops in the 1970s, starting with hyperrealism, then shifting to neo-expressionism characterized by rough brushstrokes, and after the 1990s, incorporating Chinese characters as a design element. Currently, Kim’s highest-priced work is 'Water Drop' (195×123cm, 1973), which was sold for 512.82 million KRW at the K Auction Hong Kong auction in March 2016.

The late Painter Lee Hang-seong established a cultural education publishing company and created art textbooks, led the compilation of the 'World Art Series,' and launched art magazines, playing a leading role in art culture. As a printmaker, he devised the zinc plate technique himself, realizing a unique aesthetic world. He moved to Paris, France, in the mid-1950s and devoted himself to artistic activities until the end of his life.

Collector Kim Yong-won plans to donate artworks he has connected with over time and share stories about the artists and their works to establish an art museum. While working as an economic reporter for the Chosun Ilbo, he became an art collector after purchasing a gypsophila painting at a high school teacher’s exhibition. He has displayed works at his Pyeongchang-dong home (Art Museum: Unsimseokmyeon) and authored 'The Heart of Clouds, the Face of Stone,' which deals with artists and works he met as an art enthusiast.

Meanwhile, Jongno-gu currently operates two public art museums. Both are notable for being established by utilizing the artists’ residences as museums.

The first public art museum is the Park No-su Art Museum (Ogin 1-gil 34), established by donating about 1,000 items including the entire body of work of the Korean art master Namjeong Park No-su, the house and garden he cultivated over 40 years, and various antiques and art objects to Jongno-gu.

Director Kim Yong-won's Residence

The second is the Go Hee-dong Art Museum (Changdeokgung 5-gil 40), where Korea’s first Western-style painter, Chunggok Go Hee-dong (1886?1965), designed and built the house himself in 1918 after returning from studying in Japan and lived for 41 years. It has been operated as the public Go Hee-dong Art Archive since 2017 and registered as a public art museum in 2019.

Jongno-gu plans to sequentially establish the 'Kim Chang-yeol Art Museum' based on the successful know-how of the two public art museums.

The residences of the artists who will newly become Jongno-gu public art museums share the common feature of being located in the Jamunbak area, where various cultural facilities and famous cultural artists densely reside. Therefore, the district expects that once the museums are completed, they will be linked with the surrounding cultural infrastructure and satisfy the cultural needs of residents.

Mayor Kim Young-jong said, “It is very meaningful to transform the significant spaces where world-famous painters lived into public art museums, providing local residents with opportunities to enjoy a life enriched with culture. I deeply thank the senior painters and collectors for donating their works, and I will strive to establish art museums that leave a mark in the history of Korean art so that their significance is not diminished.”