[Square] The Power of One Person

Kim Bora, Director of Seongbuk-gu Art Museum

Choi Sun-woo (1916?1984), also known as Hyegok, once mentioned Andr? Malraux (A. Malraux·1901?1976), whom he met in 1962 at the Cernuschi Museum in Paris. This municipal museum in Paris, which focuses on Asian art, exhibited 153 Korean treasures including the Gilt-bronze Maitreya Bodhisattva in Meditation. Malraux was then the Minister of Culture overseeing the exhibition. Visiting the exhibition hall, he likely spent a long time deeply immersed in the exquisite works from Korea.

Andr? Malraux, whom Choi first encountered as a novelist during his university days, was more recently known as an administrator frequently seen in museums. Traveling through various regional museums in France, his name often appears. From 1959 for ten years, he served as the first Minister of Culture under the Charles de Gaulle (1890?1970) administration. Malraux separated the Ministry of Culture from the Ministry of Education, reasoning that the Ministry of Education should teach art, while the Ministry of Culture should make people love art. Furthermore, he articulated the philosophical ideal of the ministry to enable more French people to enjoy humanity’s artistic heritage. Soon, he began adding artistic value to the beautiful nature of France, which had captivated countless painters’ hearts.

In the mysterious southern French village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Marc Chagall (M. Chagall·1887?1985) rests eternally. He spent his last twenty years there. Chagall painted the story of Genesis to decorate the Calvet Notre-Dame Cathedral, but the church refused to install some of the works, deeming parts of them provocative. Malraux proposed building a museum for these biblical works, and in 1973, the National Chagall Museum opened in the nearby city of Nice.

He not only helped establish national art museums but also assisted in founding the Maeg Foundation Museum, considered France’s first private art museum. This museum houses works created during the youth of masters such as Mir? and Giacometti, and for this reason, it remains a beloved museum worldwide to this day.

Malraux also paid attention to legislation for culture and the arts. While attending a Picasso exhibition held at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1966, he began contemplating the future of the then 85-year-old master. This led to the enactment of the art donation-in-kind system in 1968, initiated by him. This system laid the foundation for building the Picasso Museum in Paris and established a basis for valuable artworks to be transferred to the state and made public in museums.

Malraux’s era was a time of cultivating the soil and sowing seeds for the growth of culture and the arts. He persuaded that if there was a budget for building highways, it should instead be used to build museums. He also created protective measures to ensure that artists whom humanity must remember would not be forgotten. Most importantly, he designed a future where the French could live with cultural pride rather than material wealth and convenience.

He wished for the French people to come to love culture, and he fulfilled that dream. The artistic heritage he preserved became a generous vessel into which countless people could pour their hearts.

These days, we increasingly face election paradigms. However, it is not easy to find content related to culture and the arts among candidates’ debates and numerous pledges. I often imagine how welcome it would be if culture and the arts ever became the center of discussion. Every year around this time, I wait for someone who will beautifully blossom our noble arts.

Someone like the person who, 60 years ago, moved Choi Sun-woo by not taking his eyes off the unusually large and deep gaze in the artwork?someone who truly loves art.

Kim Bora, Director of Seongbuk-gu Art Museum