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Dr. Chester Chang Donates Korean Art Work to the Foundation

Dr. Chester Chang, a prominent collector of Korean antiquities, donated an eight-panel folding screen, which features a landscape painting, to the Korea Foundation. The folding screen, which is believed to have been d about 250 years ago during the Joseon Dynasty era, is especially noteworthy for the poems written along its upper border, thereby revealing the aesthetic and literary beauty of Korea.



Dr. Chester Chang, 70, who has accumulated a world-class collection of Korean antiquities and art works, donated a masterful Korean art work to the Korea Foundation on March 19, as an of his hope to have more foreigners gain an appreciation of Korean culture. The donated artifact is a 250-year-old eight-panel folding screen that depicts a landscape scene with a folk-painting style of the Joseon period. Unlike a typical folk painting, it is noteworthy that poems are written along the upper border of the painting, which portrays the natural beauty of Korea with a graceful landscape scene that includes various birds. This work was one of six items that Dr. Chang had loaned to the Honolulu Academy of Arts, where it has been displayed since 2003. About ten years ago, the value of this folding screen was assessed at $50,000.
The folding screen is one of 15 artifacts that Dr. Chang has decided to donate to Korea to help alleviate the people’s sense of loss and sorrow over the recent destruction of Korea’s venerable Sungnyemun (South Gate). The donated works include an incense burner, likely from early Baekje; a full-length portrait painting of Jeong Mong-ju, a Goryeo scholar known for his staunch loyalty; and an eight-sided black lacquer-ware vase from early Goryeo.
After deciding to donate to Korea the various art works, which he had owned for about five decades, he sought out advice from the Korea Foundation about appropriate recipient institutions. During this process, he decided to donate the folding screen to the Foundation, for the purpose of exposing more foreigners to the elegance of Korea’s traditional arts. Dr. Chang explained: “I have been thinking about donating cultural properties from my collection for a long time. When I heard the news of the fire that destroyed Sungnyemun, I thought this would be a good time to make the donation, in a hope this gesture might help to console the Korean people, who were saddened by the recent tragedy, and renew their appreciation of the value of cultural properties.
Dr. Chang, whose Korean name is Chang Jung-ki, is currently an adviser to the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States. He has collected about 1,000 Korean cultural properties over the past four decades since immigrating to the U.S. in 1958. He has donated about 500 works of antiquities to distinguished institutions and said he would contribute more works from his collection to Korea and various institutions to help establish the identity of Korea’s culture and people.

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