The Mo-am collection is one of the important art collections in Korea. Don-woo Lee85 (1801 – 1884) (or Mr. Don-young Lee86), the former minister of the Cho-sun Dynasty (Korea), started to collect the paintings and calligraphy. Don-woo Lee taught and trained his grand cousins Mr. Min-eui Lee (1838 – 1892) and Mr. Tae-eui Lee (1842 – 1904). Min-eui Lee passed the higher civil service examination and
planned to serve in as a higher government officer. However, he broke his wish to be an officer due to the abrupt death of his cousin, Mr.
85 ‘Sin-gae’ is his pen name. Don-woo Lee passed the higher civil service examination in 1827 and served in a variety of important governmental posts, such as the minister of the Board of Audit and Inspection (Dae-sa-hun) in 1845, the minister of the Ministry of Government Administration (Eae-jo-cham-pan), the minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Ye-jo-pan-seo), the attorney General (Byung-jo-pan-seo), etc. In 1865, Mr. Lee was the chief supervisor for the governmental project of the reconstruction of the Kyungbok Palace. A number of Mr. Don-woo Lee’s works, including calligraphy and a letter with its envelope, have been preserved in The Mo-am collection.
86 Don-youngLeewasMr.Don-wooLee’schildhoodname.
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Ki-jong Lee87. Ki-jong Lee, Mr. Don-woo Lee’s grandson, passed the higher civil service examination in 1875. He was appointed the governor of the Jeonla Province. Instead, Mr. Min-eui Lee and his brother, Mr. Tae-eui Lee set up their house and family on the firm financial foundations and became passionate collectors of Korean art. Tae-eui Lee collected many important works, including the replica calligraphy by Seng Kim (711 – 791)88, the folding screen by Geong Yun (1629 – 1714)89, the folding screen (8 panels of grape paintings) by Gae-ho Lee90 (17th century), the folding screen by Wui Shin (1769 – 1847)91, several works, including two folding screens, by Gwang-sa Lee92 (1705 – 1777), and so forth. Tae-eui Lee passed down his instruction and philosophy to his grandson, Mr. Kang-ho Lee93 (1899 – 1982). The fundamental philosophy and academic background of Lee’s family was
87 Mr. Ki-jong Lee was appointed the governor of the Jeonla Province. Lee, Min-eui and Mr. Ki-jong Lee planed to work together. Unfortunately, however, Mr. Ki-jong Lee abruptly passed away just before his depart for the Jeonla Province.
88 Seng Kim (711 – 791) became famous for his calligraphy in the Unified Silla.
89 Jeong Yun (1629 -1714) was a scholar officer in the Cho-sun dynasty. He became famous for his academic depth. He was offered a variety of high government posts by the government, however, he declined those offers and focused on educating the students. Many great scholars came from his school.
90 Gae-ho Lee (17th century) was a scholar-based artist in the Cho-sun dynasty. He became famous for the grape paintings. The pen name is ‘Hu-dang, Hu-hu-dang, or Hu-ong’.
91 Wui Shin (1769 – 1847) was a scholar-based artist in the Cho-sun dynasty. He became famous for composition, calligraphy, and painting. His pen name is ‘Ja-ha’.
92 Gwa ng-sa Lee (1705 – 1777) was a scholar-based artist in the Cho-sun dynasty. He studied the doctrines of Yangming Wang (Yang-myung-hak). He became famous for calligraphy. His pen name is ‘Won-kyo’.
93 Mr.Kang-hoLee(1899–1982)wasascholarintheschoolofGang-whaandoneof the most renowned connoisseurs on classical Korean art. His pen name is ‘Mo-un (line-shaped cloud)’. In 1945, Mr. In-bo Jeong (1893 – 1950) presented the pen name ‘Mo-un’ to Mr. Kang-ho Lee as an emblem of his respect.
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strongly based on the doctrines of Yangming Wang (Yang-myung-hak)94. Naturally, many numbers of the Lee family were scholars in the school of Gang-wha (Gang-wha-hak-pa)95. Min-eui Lee (1838 – 1892) and his brother Mr. Tae-eui Lee (1842 – 1904) were passionate collectors of Korean classical paintings and calligraphy. Tae-eui Lee’s grandson, Mr. Kang-ho Lee who inherited and expanded the collection, was a specialist in Korean painting and calligraphy. In 1945, when Mr. In-bo Jeong96 (1893 – 1950) met Mr. Kang-ho Lee and they discussed some classical Korean paintings and calligraphy, Mr. In-bo Jeong (or In-bo Chung) was deeply impressed by the knowledge and philosophy of Mr. Kang-ho Lee. Hence, right after the event, Mr. In-bo Jeong presented ten panels of a folding screen (his calligraphy), which expressed his respect and contained the pen name ‘Mo-un’, to Mr. Kang-ho Lee97. Kang-ho Lee was also an enthusiastic collector of Korean art. His son, Mr. Young-jae Lee98 (1930 - ), has spent more than 40 years studying Korean art, and he has added to the collection that he inherited from his father, Mr. The collection is very carefully compiled. As a result
94 ThedoctrinesofYangmingWang(Yang-myung-hak)isawayofstudyandphilosophy in Confucianism. This doctrine was created by Chinese scholar Yangming Wang (1472 – 1528). Yangming (Yang-myung) is his pen name.
95 TheschoolofGang-wha(Gang-wha-hak-pa)wastheoneschoolwhichwasbasedon the doctrines of Yangming Wang (Yang-mying-hak). This school started in 1709 and many great scholars and artists appeared from the school of Gang-wha.
96 Mr. In-bo Jeong was also a scholar in the school of Gang-wha. He was a specialist on the doctrines of Yangming Wang (Yang-myung-hak) and the history of Korea. ‘Dam-won’ and ‘Wui-dang’ are his pen names.
97 This folding screen by Mr. In-bo Jeong is still one work of the Mo-am collection. The screen is the only major work by Mr. In-bo Jeong. Jeong’s work is very rare. Only several letters and hanging scrolls exist in Korea.
98 Mr.Young-jaeLee(1930-)isascholar-basedartistandthebestconnoisseuron Korean classical paintings and calligraphy. His pen name is ‘Joong-am (heavy rock)’. He was trained by his father, Mr. Kang-ho Lee and his teacher, Mr. Gyung-suk Lee. After this, he studied at the Hyun-san Academy. Now, he is an owner of the Mo-am collection.
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of mainly two generations’ worth of a passionate collecting, the Mo-am Collection’s works include national Korean treasures, such as the Real Relics of Great Taewi (Korean National Treasure No.585)99, and works of Yong Lee100, Hee-meng Kang101, Sun Chung (or Sun Jeong)102, Sa-jeong Shim103, Chung-hee Kim104, and many others. Especially, the collection preserves the best art collection of Chung-Hee Kim (Jeong-Hui Kim), the
99 Thisworkisanalbumwhichcontainsthecorephilosophy(Prefaceof ‘Ju-ja-seo-jeol-yo’) of Mr. Hwang Lee and four landscape paintings by Sun Chung. Hwang Lee (1501 – 1570) was a great scholar in the Cho-sun dynasty. He served a variety of high government posts. He developed the Sung Confucianism and created his own theory. His theory is in his major publication ‘Ju-ja-seo-jeol-yo’. After the retirement, he founded the Do-san Academy and focused on educating the students. One painting, which described the scenery of the Do-san Academy and depicted the scene Hwang Lee was writing his major publication ‘Ju-ja-seo-jeol-yo’ from this album, is the new design for Korean a thousand note bill.
100 Yong Lee (1418 – 1453) was one of the royal princes in the Cho-sun dynasty. He was famous for composition, calligraphy, painting, and so forth. Especially, he was very famous for his calligraphy (Cho or Jo, Meng-pu style). He was very interested in arts and supported many artists at the time. His art collection was vast in size and quality. He was killed by his brother in 1453 due to the political warfare.
101 Hee-meng Kang (1424 – 1483) was a scholar based artist in the Cho-sun dynasty. He served several high government posts. ‘Kuk-oue’ is his pen name. His extant works are very rare. Only 2 or 3 works are in Korea and Japan. However, the only authentic work by Hee-meng Kang exists in the Mo-am collection.
102 Su n Chung (1676 – 1759) was one of the most famous Korean painters in the Cho-sun dynasty. He was a master of Korean landscape painting. He created his own style of Korean landscape painting. It is called ‘true view landscape’. His pen name is ‘Kyum-jae’.
103 Sa-jungShim(1707–1769)wasoneofthemostfamouspaintersintheCho-sun dynasty. He studied how to paint and how to write calligraphy from Sun Chung. And he also created his style of painting. He became famous for landscape, al leaf of grass and bugs, flowers, and so on. His pen name is ‘Hyun-jae’.
104 Chung-heeKim(1786–1856)wasthemostfamousscholar-basedartistinthe Cho-sun dynasty. He became famous for his academic depth and especially for his calligraphy (Chu-sa-style). His fame went abroad China and Japan. He had a strong and deep relationship with many great Chinese scholars, such as Feng-gang Wen (1733 – 1818) and his sons, Won Wan (1764 – 1849), Gang Jo, and many others. He was influenced by the bibliographical study of Chinese classics. He had many pen names; however, ‘Chu-sa’ and ‘Wan-dang’ are representative. For detailed information of his work, please refer to ‘Chu-sa-jin-muk’ by Young-jae Lee and Yong-su Lee.
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most renowned Korean scholar-based artist. Even though the Mo-am collection lost a huge part of the collection during the 1960s105, the collection still contains nearly a thousand art works, including Korean classical paintings, calligraphy, books, a small number of white porcelains, and so forth.
