Late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's entire art collection revealed by MMCA

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) said Wednesday that it is set to reveal the entire art collection of the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee (1942-2020) that was donated in April 2021.

The cover of ″MMCA Lee Kun-hee Collection″ [MMCA]

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) said Wednesday that it is set to reveal the entire art collection of the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee (1942-2020) that was donated in April 2021.

The museum published a 900-page art catalog titled "MMCA Lee Kun-hee Collection" covering all 1,494 works and the collection will be searchable on the MMCA’s website starting Thursday.

Previously, the museum had said the collection included 1,488 works, but the number increased after some works that initially came in sets were registered separately.

For two years, the artworks have been partially unveiled to the public through special exhibitions or by lending them to other art institutions. This is the first time for the MMCA to show them all at once.

The Lee Kun-hee collection consists of works from 266 artists.

Over 80 percent of the works are flat artworks like paintings, prints and drawings. The rest are sculptures, crafts, photographs and new media pieces.

A majority of the pieces, 87 percent, were created between the 1950s and 1990s.

A preview of the inside of ″MMCA Lee Kun-hee Collection″ [MMCA]

The catalog is divided into three chapters: Korean works, overseas works and the appendix. The first and second chapters include explanations of the pieces written by art historians.

The book is not for sale but is available to view at the MMCA’s libraries in the Seoul, Gwacheon and Cheongju branches, or at certain public libraries nationwide.

A PDF version of the book will be made publicly available on the MMCA website sometime in January.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]