Millet's "The Gleaners" Coming to Korea in Fall

Masterpieces on show at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, a museum famous for its 19th century paintings, will come to Korea for the first time this autumn.

Under the joint auspices of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and the Musee d'Orsay, the exhibition "Korean tour of Musee d'Orsay - impressionism" is to be held at the Toksugung Palace museum from October 13, 2000 to February 15, 2001.

In the exhibition, 70 individual pieces will go on display, including 35 oils by impressionists Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, as well as those by realists such as Millet and post-impressionists like Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cezanne.

Works like "The Gleaners" by Millet, "La Gare of St. Lazare" by Monet, "Two Girls at the Piano" by Pierre Renoir, and "Still Life with Basket" by Paul Cezanne will be on show, along with many other pieces that can be found in textbooks or art history books. This will be the third time that Millet's "The Gleaners" has travelled abroad for exhibitions following others in America and Japan.

It will be the fourth foreign tour for the masterpieces of the Musee d'Orsay. The exhibition is also of some import in that it is the first government-level arts cultural exchange between France and Korea.

MOCA Director Chung Jun-mo said, "This is the result of continuous efforts on both sides, including a visit by the head of the Musee d'Orsay to Korea at the MOCA's invitation in 1996." He added that, "the Musee d'Orsay is showing a great deal of interest in this exhibition, even providing a joint sponsorship."

An official from the Reunion Des Musee Nationaux of France expressed his satisfaction, stating, "This exhibition agrees with d'Orsay's aim to widen cultural exchanges with Asian countries, and the exhibition hall conditions are quite satisfactory."

Opened in 1986, the Musee d'Orsay is famous for its collection of important works from the schools of Impressionism, Realism, and Symbolism from 1848 through 1904. Often referred to as the "19th century art museum" for its variety of Impressionist works, the building itself is also known for its beauty, having been reconstructed from a train station and hotel which were built for a 1900 world fair held in Paris.

by Cho Hyun-wuk