This season, Seoul offers exhibitions featuring collections from the world-renowned Whitney Museum of American Art and the Musée d’Orsay. Starting in early June and running through September 25, each exhibit invites audience to explore a selection of works that are quintessential to American and European art history.
The American Art: Masterpieces of Everyday Life from the Whitney Museum of American Art at the Deoksugung Palace Annex of National Museum of Contemporary Art
“The American Art: Masterpieces of Everyday Life from the Whitney Museum of American Art” opened its doors to public on June 11 at the National Art Museum in Deoksugung.
| (left) US ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stevens at the opening on June 10 (right) Whitney curator Carter Foster (far left) at the opening ceremony (Photos courtesy of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea) |
Held in close collaboration with the Whitney Museum, the exhibition takes viewers historical journey through American art. The Whitney Museum of American Art has devoted itself to supporting national art and artists, and is recognized as one of the best places to appreciate American art. The internationally acclaimed art institution, which is widely reputed for its biennale showcase, picked the National Museum in Seoul for its first Asian exhibition.
| (from left) Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Crystal Bowl, 1973, oil and synthetic polymer on canvas, 132.1×106.7cm â“’Estate of Roy Lichtenstein / SACK Korea, 2011; Wayne Thiebaud, Pie Counter, 1963, oil on canvas, 76.2×91.4cm â“’Wayne Thiebaud / VAGA, NY and SACK, Seoul, 2011; Andy Warhol, Green Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962, synthetic polymer, silkscreen ink and graphite on canvas, 212.7×148.9×5.1cm â“’The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / SACK, Seoul, 2011 (Images courtesy of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea) |
Organized around the theme of “everyday objects,” the show depicts the ins and outs of American society and culture. The exhibition seeks to ignite viewers’ creativity through providing an aesthetic perspective on everyday objects.
Among the 47 artists represented are of some of the most influential American artists of the twentieth century, such as Man Ray, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Dan Flavin, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The exhibit also includes a section called “American Modernism” featuring the landscapes by Edward Hopper and iconic paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe.
| Works from “The American Art: Masterpieces of Everyday Life from the Whitney Museum of American Art” (photographed by Hwang Dana) |
The Deoksugung annex is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and until 9 p.m. on Fridays and weekends. The museum is closed on Mondays. Admission is 12,000 won for adults, including admission to the palace. Through July 10, elementary school students and children under 6 are admitted free of charge to the exhibit (excluding admission to the palace) when accompanied by their parents. For more information, please visit the official website at: www.moca.go.kr/engN (Korean and English).
Rêve et Réalité – Les Chefs d’Oeuvre du Musée d’Orsay à Séoul [Dream and Reality: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay in Seoul] at Hangaram Art Museum
Instead of traveling all the way to the Seine River, just across the Han River in Seoul, the world’s largest repository of impressionist and post-impressionist art is on view. “Rêve et Réalité – Les Chefs d’Oeuvre du Musée d'Orsay” opened on June 4 at Hangaram Art Museum to present the great masters of the nineteenth century including van Gogh, Monet, Gauguin, Renoir, Cézanne, Millet and Ingres.
| (left) Pierre- Auguste Renoir, Le garçon au chat, 1868-1869, Oil on canvas, 123x66cm (right) Edgar Degas, Danseuses montant un escalier, 1886-1888, Oil on canvas, 39×89.5cm ©Photo RMN / Musée d'Orsay – GNC media, 2011 |
The third exhibition showcasing the Musée d’Orsay Collection in Korea, it features a broad spectrum of historically important pieces, including “Le garçon au chat [The Boy with the Cat]” by Renoir and “Danseuses montant un escalier [Dancers climbing the stairs]” by Degas.
La nuit étoilée, Arles [Starry Night over the Rhone] (photographed by Hwang Dana)
Unlike previous exhibits, which showcased only some 40 works, the current exhibition features a total of 134 artworks, covering a rich selection of paintings, drawings and photography The largest traveling exhibition of its kind, the current Seoul show was made possible by a partial renovation of the Paris museum, freeing up more works for display abroad.
Arguably the highlight of the exhibition among many great masterpieces on display is “La nuit étoilée, Arles [Starry Night over the Rhone],” one of the best-known paintings by Vincent van Gogh.
Also on display are works by Ingres and Cabanel that capture the essence of the French Academism and the museum’s groundbreaking photography collection containing a handful of the first photographic images alongside modern works by Alfred Stieglitz.
| Works from “Dream and Reality: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay in Seoul” (photographed by Hwang Dana) |
Hangaram Art Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the exhibition. Early admission at 10 a.m. will be granted on weekends from July 23 to August 28. The exhibition is closed on the last Monday of the month. Admission is 12,000 won for adults and university students. Audio guides are available in Korean and English for 3,000 won. For more information, please visit the official website at: www.orsay2011.co.kr (Korean only) or www.sac.or.kr/eng/Banner/museum.jsp (Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese).
By Hwang Dana
Korea.net Staff Writer
