LACMA’s Director of Asian Art, Stephen Little, announced on June 22 that over 40 works, including some from Dr. Chang’s donation, will be showcased in a special exhibition from February 25 to the end of June next year.
The exhibition, titled “Korean Treasures from the Chester and Cameron Chang Collection,” will feature works by notable figures in Korean modern art history, including Jung-seob Lee, Soo-keun Park, and Kwan-sik Byun. It will also include pieces by Kwan-ho Kim, regarded as Korea’s second Western-style painter, and a mountain watercolor by Joseon Dynasty artist Inmun Yi.
Rare ceramics will also be on display, such as a bookshelf inscribed with the seal of Hyung-rok Lee, a royal painter during the King Jeongjo reign. Additionally, a Goryeo Dynasty bronze water bottle and a Joseon Dynasty water jar will be featured.
LACMA is also planning a collaborative exhibition with South Korea, showcasing Dr. Chang’s collection, beginning in August 2023. The exhibition will coincide with the Year of the Dragon and preparations will commence with Director Little’s upcoming visit to South Korea next month.
Notably, the latter part of the exhibition will feature a highlight for the Southern California art community, as LACMA will be the first to exhibit a “celestial map” donated by Dr. Chang to Cambridge University in England in 1966, on behalf of his mother Byung-yoon Min.
The celestial map, a cultural artifact representing the scientific knowledge of the Joseon Dynasty, displays celestial bodies used by scholars during the early 18th century, including Western-style celestial bodies.
Furthermore, when the new building is completed in 2025, LACMA plans to inaugurate a permanent exhibition hall named the Chester Chang Exhibition Hall.
“I am eager to share the beauty of Korean art with Southern California and the world through LACMA,” stated Dr. Chang.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chang informed the Korea Daily that he will be donating over 1,000 Korean artworks he has collected throughout his lifetime to LACMA.
Dr. Chang expressed, “Together with my wife Wanda Chang and my children Cameron and Nicole Chang, we have been preparing this donation to share the splendid art and culture of Korea with the American public, rather than keeping it for ourselves.”
Dr. Chang’s contribution of Korean art to LACMA marks the largest donation of its kind in the United States. LACMA has been meticulously cataloging, documenting, and relocating Dr. Chang’s collection until earlier this year. According to LACMA, a ten-volume catalog of Dr. Chang’s collection will be published over the course of ten years.
BY NICOLE CHANG [support@koreadaily.com]
