A special exhibition of Korean art,《Treasures of Korea: Collected, Cherished, Shared》, is currently on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C.
 
This exhibition marks the first stop of an international tour based on the collection donated by the late Lee Kun-hee. It is jointly organized and presented by the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. More than 200 works spanning from antiquity to the modern period are on display, offering a broad survey of the historical trajectory of Korean art.

In its exhibition materials, the National Museum of Asian Art describes the show as a large-scale presentation that demonstrates the historical depth and breadth of Korean art. It highlights as a key context the transition of a private collection into public ownership, followed by close institutional collaboration that integrates scholarship, conservation, and exhibition.
 
The materials also note that Korean art has long been positioned within East Asian collections dominated by Chinese and Japanese narratives in Western museums, emphasizing that this exhibition introduces Korean art through an independent and coherent narrative.

“The Washington Post” described the exhibition as the largest presentation of Korean art ever held at the National Museum of Asian Art. The newspaper noted the curatorial decision not to separate premodern and modern works, instead arranging them in a continuous sequence that reveals the long-term flow and aesthetic continuity of Korean art. While acknowledging heightened global interest in Korean culture driven by popular media, the article emphasized that the exhibition remains firmly grounded in art-historical context.

“Forbes” approached the exhibition as an interpretive presentation designed to facilitate understanding of Korea’s artistic heritage. Rather than focusing on scale or spectacle, the article highlighted the chronological structure and explanatory framework that allow visitors to follow the development of Korean art with relative clarity. It also emphasized that the Lee Kun-hee Collection functions not as a reflection of personal taste, but as a resource for public education and scholarly research.
 
The Asian art periodical “Asian Art Newspaper” introduced the exhibition as one of the Smithsonian’s major initiatives, summarizing its scope through key facts: more than 200 works on display, the inclusion of nationally designated cultural treasures, and joint organization by Korea’s national institutions. Its coverage focused on the institutional aspects of donation, collection, and overseas exhibition rather than interpretive analysis.
 
The exhibition’s subtitle—‘Collected’, ‘Cherished’, ‘Shared’—frames its central narrative: the transformation of a private collection into national holdings and, ultimately, into an international public exhibition. Official materials explain that this progression structures the entire exhibition, foregrounding not only the artworks themselves but also the contexts of collecting and public sharing.
 
The exhibition brings together premodern works from the National Museum of Korea and modern and contemporary works from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Masterpieces such as Jeong Seon’s Inwangjesaekdo (Mount Inwang after Rain), Kim Hong-do’s Chuseongbudo (Illustration of the Rhapsody on Autumn Sounds), along with court paintings and white porcelain, represent the aesthetic foundations of the Joseon dynasty. The modern section includes works by Park Su-geun, Kim Whanki, and Kim Byeong-gi, highlighting emotional and formal continuities with earlier traditions.

Jeong Seon’s Inwangjesaekdo is a landmark of late Joseon “true-view” landscape painting. Depicting Mount Inwang just after rainfall, the work captures the scene with powerful brushwork and close observation. Rather than following idealized Chinese landscape conventions, it is based on direct study of an actual site, a defining characteristic of true-view painting.
 
Through layered ink tones and vigorous strokes, the rocky mountain surfaces convey the texture and vitality of nature, while the fleeting change in weather lends the composition a sense of tension and immediacy. The painting is widely regarded as a key example of how Joseon artists established an independent landscape tradition grounded in lived experience.

Chuseongbudo visualizes the “Rhapsody on Autumn Sounds” by the Song-dynasty scholar Ouyang Xiu. A literati-style landscape, it conveys quiet reflection and contemplative emotion inspired by seasonal change. In contrast to Kim Hong-do’s well-known genre scenes, this work is marked by restrained brushwork, balanced composition, and a strong literary sensibility, exemplifying the fusion of literature and painting in late Joseon literati art.
 
International media and official sources alike frame the exhibition as a case that illuminates not only the artistic quality of Korean art, but also the process by which a donated private collection becomes part of national holdings and is presented within an international museum context. While the global spread of K-pop and Korean cinema is often cited as background, the exhibition itself is consistently described as a project centered on scholarly and institutional frameworks.
 
After closing in Washington on February 1 this year, the touring exhibition will travel to the Art Institute of Chicago (March 7–July 5, 2026) and then to the British Museum (September 10, 2026–January 10, 2027).

References

• Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art – Exhibition Overview
• Smithsonian Newsdesk – Press Release
• Smithsonian NMAA – Accessible Exhibition Text
• The Washington Post – Korean Treasures at the Smithsonian
• Forbes – Korean Treasures Offers Insight Into a Rich Artistic Heritage
• Asian Art Newspaper – Korean Treasures: The Samsung Family Collection
  
• The Korea Society – Curatorial Roundtable