The Formation of Korean Museums in Modern Times

Art Museums
Their History, Present Situation and Vision:

the case of the Republic of Korea : through historical survey, the case studies of private art museums and the "Mo-am Collection"

  

국립박물관(경복궁) (시사저널)

 

Japan carried on its war of continental invasion from Korea to Manchuria, into mid-China. Korea was the base for Japan to invade and conquer this whole part of Asia. During the 1930s in Korea, the industrial emphasis of the Japanese gradually shifted from foodstuff manufacturing to such heavy manufacturing, such as machines, chemicals and metals. In 1939, heavy industry (metals, machines and tools, chemicals) constituted almost 50 percent of the industrial sectors. Production of agricultural commodities steadily declined in value from nearly 60 percent of the gross national product in 1930s to 22 percent in 1939３９. As Japan became totally engaged in war, all sorts of art activities, including organizing exhibitions, collapsed around the 1940s. In the process, art museums in Korea were compelled to close down in 1941 by the might of the Japanese military.

 

The National Museum of Korea (1945 to 1970)
On the occasion of Korea’s liberation from Japan on August 15th, 1945, control of the museums that were founded during the Japanese occupation was handed over to Korea. However, there was a lack of prior experience of museum direction and management which brought problems of its own. In the case of the Lee Royal Family Art Museum, the name of the museum was changed to the Deoksu Palace Museum in March, 1946４０. one of The Lee Royal Family’s relatives, Mr. Kuk-pil Lee, was appointed as a director of the palace museum in the same year. Even though a collection of the museum still existed and a director was appointed, no exhibitions were ever held in the museum during that time. Principally, this was because the collection of the Deoksu Palace Museum consisted entirely of Japanese works of art, so museum staff did not want to organize an exhibition. They did not even display the Japanese art collection at the galleries of the museum. The Japanese art works were placed in the storage of the museum at the time. The other reason was that although the museum still existed there were no administrative or supporting systems to maintain it. The museum was also suffering from financial difficulties.

 

The Cho-sun Chong-dok Pu Museum４１, which was originally founded as a means for political propaganda, was transformed to the National Museum of Korea in September, 1945. The museum was used for the first National Exposition in 1949. The organization of the national Museum was formed in the same year. However, after this event, it was closed down temporally due to the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. During the Korean War of 1950 to 1953, Korea’s physical and moral cultural heritages, including a variety of works of art, were at great danger to disappear from the war. But, fortunately, due to great efforts of many predecessors, Korea could preserve its precious cultural properties.

Following the end of the war, Korea quickly prepared and rebuilt the physical facilities and nation’s infrastructures, including social, political and economic systems, with collaboration and support from the United States of America and the United Nations (UN).

The National Museum of Korea organized the special tour exhibition, “The Masterpieces of Korean art”, in 1957. This exhibition traveled to many major cities in the U.S., including Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. All of the audiences of the exhibition were greatly stunned by the show, since almost all Americans had just seen the miserable and terrible scenes of the Korean War. They never thought Korea could organize this kind of exhibition. After this event, the museum has organized a variety of art exhibitions as well as diverse art programs, up until now. The Deoksu Palace Museum was combined with The National Museum of Korea in 1969.31

ⓒ 모암문고 www.moamcollection.org