| Korean Museums [message #11385] |
Fri, 04 February 2011 12:41  |
jimhoare64
Messages: 17
Registered: September 2007
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Junior Member |
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Dear List
Emeritus Professor Keith Pratt has been trying to send this to the list without success. I am therefore trying for him
Jim Hoare
DearList members,
In a 2006 conference paper (Korean Museums: Modernization and participation ininternational activities), Sung Kee-in wrote:
"In this [the protectorate] period, Japanese immigrants
aggressively collected and purchased all
kinds of handicrafts and art work all over
Korea, paving a solid base for national
museums. It was also during this period that
grave-robbers-cum-merchants actively
explored the ancient capitals, Ke Sung and
Kang Wha. Their findings were gathered up
and taken to the Cho Sun Governor's office.
Ironically, the Korean imperial family had to
pay heavily to purchase these stolen artifacts.
In this initial period, the museum's collection
comprised over 12,230 pieces in total.
The stone-built Hall Art Museum,
completed in 1909, was located inside the
Duk Su Palace, which used to be the abode
of the abdicated emperor Go-Zong. The
collection then comprised more than 110,000
pieces."
Does this help or complicate the issue still further?? Can anyone verify thematter of the 'imperial family' buying back the artefacts at great cost? I hadbeen wondering which particular 'stone-built' building he was referring to asthe 'Hall Art Museum' in the Toksu Palace, and had assumed that it was theSokcho-jon, which H W Davidson finished in 1909.
Keith
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| Re: Korean Museums [message #11387 is a reply to message #11385] |
Fri, 04 February 2011 15:46  |
Frank_Hoffmann
Messages: 245
Registered: May 2013
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Senior Member
Administrator |
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Not too sure where that info you quoted is from,
as she is not giving any source in that paper,
probably because it can be considered lexical
knowledge, but I think it is probably just an
English language problem. (Dr. Sung, by the way,
is a woman. She's a curator at the National
Museum of History in Taiwan.) I think it was then
already the same building as it is at present (as
part of the Korean National Museum of
Contemporary Art). That is indeed the West Wing
of the neoclassical Sôkcho-chôn -- completed in
1910 (but already being utilized in 1909) -- the
building you were referring to.
For a photo see e.g. on top of this exhibition report:
http://www.ohmynews.com/nws_web/view/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A000 1038983
The building was begun before Japanese occupation
and demonstrates King Kojong's interest in
modernizing the country -- as can be proven not
just by the building itself but also by the art
work that was produced or bought for it, both
from Western countries and made by Korean artists
(that already show a clear influence from Western
art at that early time, as we know from some
photos and various descriptions). The building
was designed by the architect G.R. Harding in
1901 and then build by H.W. Davidson.
Frank
>Dear List
>Emeritus Professor Keith Pratt has been trying
>to send this to the list without success. I am
>therefore trying for him
>Jim Hoare
>
>
>Dear List members,
>
>In a 2006 conference paper (Korean Museums:
>Modernization and participation in international
>activities), Sung Kee-in wrote:
>
>"In this [the protectorate] period, Japanese immigrants
>aggressively collected and purchased all
>kinds of handicrafts and art work all over
>Korea, paving a solid base for national
>museums. It was also during this period that
>grave-robbers-cum-merchants actively
>explored the ancient capitals, Ke Sung and
>Kang Wha. Their findings were gathered up
>and taken to the Cho Sun Governor's office.
>Ironically, the Korean imperial family had to
>pay heavily to purchase these stolen artifacts.
>In this initial period, the museum's collection
>comprised over 12,230 pieces in total.
>The stone-built Hall Art Museum,
>completed in 1909, was located inside the
>Duk Su Palace, which used to be the abode
>of the abdicated emperor Go-Zong. The
>collection then comprised more than 110,000
>pieces."
>
>Does this help or complicate the issue still
>further?? Can anyone verify the matter of the
>'imperial family' buying back the artefacts at
>great cost? I had been wondering which
>particular 'stone-built' building he was
>referring to as the 'Hall Art Museum' in the
>Toksu Palace, and had assumed that it was the
>Sokcho-jon, which H W Davidson finished in 1909.
>
>Keith
--
--------------------------------------
Frank Hoffmann
http://koreaweb.ws
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| Korean Museums [message #11388 is a reply to message #11387] |
Fri, 04 February 2011 18:46 |
Brother Anthony
Messages: 256
Registered: March 2004
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Senior Member |
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Keith Pratt raises an interesting question. There is a short piece in the pages of the Korean Museum of Contemporary Art http://www.moca.go.kr/notice/n38/38-a.html mentioning the conflicts between those in about 1915 who wanted an Art Gallery (miseul-gwan) and those who wanted a Museum (pangmul-gwan) in the case of the Government General Museum (that I mentioned previously in Gyeongbok-gung) saying that it was originally built and first used for exhibitions of modern art, but then appropriated for use as a museum. I wonder where that lady quoted by Keith (her full text is at http://www.intercom.museum/documents/4-7Sung.pdf ) got the name "Hall Art Museum" or what Sino-Korean name she is translating, because it seems not to be a recognized name in English. It would certainly be interesting (but perhaps difficult now) to find out how objects were acquired for the GG Museum by the Japanese authorities. Given the famous case of what Gansong Jeon Hyeong-Pil was able to acquire, it seems that the Japanese authorities had to purchase things on the open market. The phrases quoted "Their findings were gathered up and taken to the Cho Sun Governor's office. Ironically, the Korean imperial family had to pay heavily to purchase these stolen artifacts. In this initial period, the museum's collection comprised over 12,230 pieces in total" seem to me to be incomprehensible since she is talking about the Japanese period. There is, I think, a possible confusion with the "Yi-wang-ga Museum" which was composed of objects owned by the Korean kings-emperors rescued from the palaces at the close / collapse of the dynasty
Brother Anthony
Sogang Univeristy
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