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Korean Art at Seattle Art Museum

For the founder of the Seattle Art Museum, Dr. Richard E. Fuller (1897-1976), his enthusiasm for Asian art was greatly influenced by his mother Margaret, who embarked on an extended visit to Japan, Korea and China, with her children, in 1919. After obtaining a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Washington, Dr. Fuller was elected president of the Seattle Art Institute, a citizens' group that supported art activities in Seattle. With the support and efforts of the institute, along with generous monetary contributions and the donation of the Fullers's own Asian art collection, the institute commissioned architect Carl F. Gould to design a museum building in Volunteer Park, a city park on the crest of Capitol Hill. In 1933, a beautiful art deco building-Seattle Art Museum (SAM)-was opened to the public. As the first museum director, Dr. Fuller devotedly studied Asian art and expanded the Museum's collection until his retirement in 1973.

Korean Art Collection

① Preaching Buddha (prior to restoration) Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection (photo: Paul Macapia)
② Mountain Dreams / (photo: Yukiko Shirahara)
③ Grandfather's House (photo: Howard Giske)
In 1994, three years after the Seattle Art Museum had opened a new, additional building to support its expanded permanent collection in downtown Seattle, the original building in Volunteer Park was reborn as the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM). A gallery devoted to Korean art was allocated a large, accessible space in the building (1,440 square feet). At the same time, the downtown museum opened a gallery devoted to Korean art. The Korean art collection, which began with Dr. Fuller's collection of 50 s, has since been increased by nearly 350 percent. The collection covers broad categories of Korean art: religious and decorative paintings, bronze sculpture, ceramics, textile, paper and bamboo utensils, and wooden furnishings.
Recent remarkable donations, which help form our Korean art collection, include items from Frank S. Bayley III and Ann Rowland Eddy, followed by Robert and Sandra Mattielli, and Henry and Mary Ann James. In 2002, a thematic series, entitled Korean Sensibilities, was presented as installations in two Korean galleries. By exhibiting SAM's permanent collection, along with an assortment of work from private collections, each installation focused on a different aspect of Korean art, such as Korean color, shape, art of the tiger, and literary art.

Recent Exhibitions and Programs
Mountain Dreams: Contemporary Ceramics by Yoon Kwang-Cho was a popular exhibition (November 2004 through June 2005). Organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the point of this exhibition at SAAM was to highlight Yoon Kwang-Cho's creativity as well as his use of the Korean tradition of buncheong, upon which his aesthetics are based. Thanks to the generous support of the Korea Foundation, SAM presented a superb installation as well as meaningful programs to help visitors understand more about this artist's philosophy and original techniques.
Elegant Earth: Photographs by Johsel Namkung (May-October 2006) is the latest exhibition that features a Seattle-based Korean photographer, Johsel Namkung (1919-). Mr. Namkung is known as a prominent figure among early Korean immigrants to Seattle as well as a successful artist among the Northwest's artistic circles. The 21 prints that are on display in the gallery reflect his unique sensibility to grasp a rhythmic and abstract beauty from nature. The success of this exhibition is due to the tremendous support from the Consul General of Korea, the Korean American Historical Society, and the Korean community in Seattle.

Variety of Projects
A previous exhibition, "Explore Korea: A Visit to Grandfather's House," was successfully shown from October 1999 through October 2002. For this exhibition, which was organized by the Newark Museum, the accompanying programs at SAAM were made possible by support from the Korea Foundation. In particular, this exhibition featured a replica of a traditional Korean house, named Grandfather's House, which consisted of a gate, sarangbang and anbang, maru, and kitchen, that had been installed in the gallery. A remarkable characteristic of this house was that it allowed visitors to enter the rooms to see and handle the various household s.
To publicize the opening of this exhibition, the museum celebrated a Year of Korea in 2000, which included family activities on every Saturday throughout the year. A variety of programs for adults, children, families, and teachers, including demonstrations, performances, and concerts were held at SAAM in conjunction with this exhibition. As a result, over 20,000 students from local schools joined tours of Grandfather's House, along with a website being d in 2001, from which teachers could download educational materials.
Some of the artworks of the Korean art collection at SAM cannot be exhibited because of much-needed conservation. Preaching Buddha, a 17th century Buddhist painting (338x300cm) is one example. Fortunately, a grant from Korea's National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, and individual support from both Korea and Seattle, made possible the conservation and restoration of Preaching Buddha. The work on this painting will be completed this autumn in Seoul. This treasure from SAM's Korean art collection will be on view as part of the opening exhibition to celebrate the newly expanded downtown museum in the spring of 2007.

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