A Changing of the Guard at the
Koret Foundation Korean Galleries

The Koret Foundation Korean Galleries at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco have found a new guardian in Cheeyun Kwon, who has been appointed as their new curator. Kumja Paik Kim, the museum’s longtime curator of Korean art, retired in June after a remarkable 17 years of service.

When she joined the museum in 1989, Dr. Kim was the first fulltime curator of Korean art in any American museum. With the help of generous individuals and organizations like Koret, Dr. Kim more than doubled the museum’s Korean holdings to create the most comprehensive collection of Korean art outside of Korea.

Last fall, the museum celebrated Dr. Kim’s tenure by issuing a comprehensive catalogue of the collection she spent years preparing. The current collection consists of approximately 700 works of Korean art spanning 500 BC to the present and includes intricate gilt bronze sculptures, timeless ceramics, bold abstract paintings, richly colored textiles, and metalwork. The collection is especially noted for its Goryeo dynasty celadons, the glorious green ceramics that are admired worldwide. Dozens of these works are on permanent view in the museum’s Korean galleries, and these treasures play an ongoing part in the museum’s historical survey of Asian arts.

In January, Dr. Kwon began her tenure shepherding the future growth and development of this collection. She holds advanced degrees in East Asian and Korean art history from Princeton and had been lecturing on Korean art at universities in Seoul prior to her arrival at the museum.

“Following in the footsteps of Kumja and the wonderful legacy she created for the museum is an important responsibility,” said Dr. Kwon. “However, I am very fortunate because I will always be able to find inspiration in the astonishing collection of artwork she helped establish at the museum.”