Whanki MuseumBuam-dong, Jongno-gu
WHANKI MUSEUM Highlights II
Collection special exhibition centred on Kim Whanki's 1963-74 New York period, tracing how his wife Kim HyangAn built the museum's holdings after his death.
More in Seoul
When Kim Whanki and Kim HyangAn returned to Seoul in 1953 after fleeing the war, the canvases left in their Seongbuk-dong studio were lying in the street outside the gate. Neighbourhood children had carried some off, and a local labourer had pulled others apart, washed them and made himself hemp summer clothes. That is why most of what survives comes from Paris and New York.
This collection show in the main building centres on the New York years, 1963 to 1974, and follows HyangAn's eye. After Whanki died in 1974, she spent twenty years sorting his paintings, letters and photographs into the roughly 2,000 pieces the museum holds. You also see things the couple kept at home, including a portrait of Whanki by Kim Yong-jun and a ten-panel screen from Oh Se-chang.
One ticket, sold on site only, covers every gallery; closed Mondays, last entry 17:00. Whanki's 1965 plan for a museum included selling picture postcards, so buying one on the way out is following his wishes.
Look for
Kim Yong-jun's portrait of Suhwa
Look for Whanki, under his pen name Suhwa, painted by his contemporary Kim Yong-jun as a little old man sitting cross-legged, one of the couple's own treasured pieces.
Oh Se-chang's ten-panel screen
Jisangpyeon, a ten-panel folding screen that Oh Se-chang gave the couple, is a record of the friendships they kept with artists of their day.
Good for
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
- Rainy Days
Also at Whanki Museum
On now nearby
Image credits
2
- Dali · Differently · DaliCourtesy of Hangaram Art Museum
- Whanki MuseumPaigePhault via Wikimedia Commons, CC0