Lee Ungno Museum

Character

Before the museum opened, Daejeon received representative Abstract Letter and People works, along with a large body of paintings Lee made during his imprisonment in the late 1960s

That collection gives the museum unusual biographical density. Lee’s career moved from Korean ink painting into collage, abstraction, calligraphic letter forms and the late People series, while imprisonment, exile and his long Paris career remain visible as changes in material and subject rather than separate biography panels

French architect Laurent Beaudouin translated Lee’s art into the building itself. The museum’s walls, courtyards and circulation reinterpret the structural logic of Lee’s Abstract Letter work, especially the composition of the piece Soo, while openings between indoors and the surrounding park keep light and landscape inside the visit

The experience

The galleries are compact enough for the collection to remain the focus. Exhibitions move among Lee’s ink work, collage, Abstract Letter, sculpture, tapestry, print and People series, with collection rotations changing which periods are most visible at any one time

The building is easiest to understand while moving between interior rooms and small outdoor courts. Walls and voids create a sequence closer to a walk through linked spaces than a single rectangular gallery floor, and the park outside repeatedly returns through windows and open transitions

Collection exhibitions can include works made during Lee’s imprisonment, but their presence varies. The museum’s archive, permanent-collection program and research activity provide continuity when a particular famous work or series is off view

History

Lee Ungno was imprisoned in South Korea in 1967 after being implicated in the East Berlin Affair and spent roughly two and a half years in custody. He continued producing art during imprisonment, and those works later became an important part of the Daejeon museum collection

Daejeon Metropolitan City and Lee’s widow, artist Park In-kyung, signed the first donation agreement in February 2004. In October 2005, the city received 106 works including representative Abstract Letter and People pieces. A second donation in December 2006 added 101 works, including prison paintings

Lee Ungno Museum opened in May 2007, displaying the donated works alongside acquisitions. Further donations expanded the collection in 2008 and later years

The institution developed beyond exhibition after opening. A foundation was established in 2012, storage facilities expanded in 2016, and the Lee Ungno Institute was created in 2020 to support research on the artist and modern Korean art

Before you go

The museum sits beside Daejeon Museum of Art and other cultural facilities in Dunsan Grand Park, making it easy to combine with a broader arts visit. Collection displays rotate, so the current exhibition matters, but the building itself remains a stable reason to walk the museum even when a preferred series is not installed