Kansong museum's auction participation draws controversy over national treasure trading

Two national treasures, Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of Gyemi Year, left, and Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad, were put up for auction but failed to find new homes, Thursday. Courtesy of K Auction

By Park Han-sol

Two state-designated national treasures from the collection of the Kansong Art Museum have been put up for auction but failed to find new homes, stirring controversy over the implications of the museum’s decision to commercially trade in artifacts of significant cultural and historical value.

The sixth-century Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of Gyemi Year and the 11th- or 12th-century Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad marked the grand finale of K Auction in southern Seoul, Thursday evening, as the first-ever national treasures to be brought under the gavel in the country.

“It is an honor to just call out the name of the national treasure at this podium as an auctioneer,” said Kwak Jong-woo as he started the bidding of the standing Buddha triad at the price of 3.1 billion won ($2.57 million). But its fate was quickly sealed, along with the portable shrine of the Buddha triad that started at 2.7 billion won, as no bids were made for either of the articles.

Prior to the auction, many predicted the National Museum of Korea (NMK) would be the high-profile prospective buyer of the two Buddhist statues, as it purchased two of Kansong’s rare treasures ― a rank lower than the national treasure status ― for nearly 3 billion won when they similarly failed to find new owners at an auction in 2020.

In Korea, all state-designated cultural artifacts are banned from being shipped or sold overseas, with only domestic transactions authorized ― provided that the items are reported in advance to the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA).

Although the national museum expressed its interest in the artifacts in consideration of their evident historical values, the starting price of the two items far exceeded its annual budget of 4 billion won, which likely prevented it from making a bid in the auction.

Another factor of consideration for the NMK was the fact that if the state-run institution declares its intent to commercially bid for a relic as rare as a national treasure, such an announcement itself could set the unexpected precedent by affecting the pricing of the artifact, one museum official told the local daily Dong-A Ilbo.

The auction of the Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of Gyemi Year begins, with the starting price of 3.1 billion won, at K Auction in southern Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of K Auction

In the official statements released in 2020 and 2022, the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation cited its chronic financial troubles in operating Korea’s first private art museum that has some 5,000 artifacts in its collection ― including nearly 50 treasures and national treasures ― worsened by the inheritance tax and COVID-19 pandemic, as the reason for its decision to auction off the priceless Buddhist artifacts. It added that it would narrow down the focus to calligraphic works, ceramics and written records.

“It is regrettable to once again announce our decision to sell the artifacts from our collection under the goal of restructuring,” its most recent statement reads. “But we hope for your understanding that this was a decision made after considerable deliberation about the future of Kansong.”

However, criticism has arisen that the two Buddhist national treasures in question are not owned by the Kansong Art Museum, but are listed as the personal possession of its Director Chun In-keon, grandson of its founder Chun Hyung-pil, who dedicated his fortune to collecting and preserving the country’s rare treasures during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial era. No inheritance tax has been imposed on the state-designated treasures and national treasures passed down to the grandson.

And both the museum’s new storage vault and the Daegu Kansong Art Museum, which are being constructed at the moment, are funded by the central and local governments, not Kansong’s fund. The museum itself has also been closed to public since 2014.

But some experts state that the significant role played by the Kansong family needs to be considered before resorting to outright criticism of the Kangsong Art Museum.

“If it weren’t for Chun Hyung-pil, the relics we are speaking of would not have even remained in Korea. And his descendants have done what they could to preserve and protect their heritage for years,” Kim Jong-kyu, chairman of the National Trust for Cultural Heritage, told The Korea Times.

He added that rather than pinning the blame on the individuals, the country should seek for more fundamental, systemic changes in the support for the Kansong Art Museum’s operation and management of the artifacts.