MMCA Gwacheon Permanent Exhibition «Korean Modern and Contemporary Art I»

About the Exhibition

This permanent exhibition introduces 145 works from the collection of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) created during the first half of the 20th century, covering the periods from the Korean Empire and the Enlightenment era, through Japanese colonial rule, liberation, and the Korean War. It proceeds from Part 1, 'The Emergence of New Perspectives,' and Part 2, 'The Search for Modern Painting and Calligraphy,' through Part 3, 'The Emergence of the Concept of Art/Artist,' to Part 4, which introduces Lee In-sung's watercolors, oil paintings, and drawings, and continues into Part 5, 'Painting the Life of Joseon,' which covers award-winning works from the Joseon Art Exhibition of the 1930s-40s. This is followed by Part 6, introducing the husband-and-wife artists Park Rae-hyun and Kim Ki-chang; Part 7, examining semi-figurative formative experiments after the Korean War; and Part 8, dealing with paintings and sculptures on the theme of family, before concluding with Part 9, which introduces the drawings and oil paintings of Park Soo-keun. This permanent exhibition, which opened on May 1, 2025, was refreshed starting April 22, 2026, with the rooms formerly dedicated to Oh Ji-ho and Lee Jung-seob newly reorganized as rooms for Lee In-sung and Park Soo-keun, respectively.