전형필 全鎣弼
Collector who founded Gansong Art Museum and preserved cultural treasures including the Hunminjeongeum Haerye; pen name Gansong
| Life | 1906 ~ 1962 |
| Era | 일제강점기~현대 |
| Clan | 정선 전씨 |
Life & career
Jeon Hyeong-pil (全鎣弼, 1906-1962), pen name Gansong (澗松), was a collector who bought and preserved Korean cultural treasures under Japanese rule. Born in Seoul, he graduated from Whimoon High School and studied law at Waseda University, and from the 1930s used his large inheritance to gather paintings, calligraphy, ceramics and books, regarding this as a form of independence work.
In 1938 he built Bohwagak in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, Korea's first private museum, which became the Korea Institute of National Art and Gansong Art Museum in 1966. He is introduced as a Jeongseon Jeon, and the first syllable of his given name 鎣 matches the generation character for the 47th generation in the grand-genealogy list.
Collecting Heritage
After taking over the Hannam Seorim bookshop in Gwanhun-dong in 1932, he bought Bukdanjang in Seongbuk-dong in 1934 and began collecting in earnest. Influenced by Go Hui-dong and O Se-chang, he is said to have bought twenty National Treasure-class Goryeo celadons from a foreign collector for 400,000 won. Stories of efforts to protect the collection from plunder during the Korean War are also told.
The Hunminjeongeum Haerye
Wikipedia says that around 1940 he obtained the Hunminjeongeum Haerye through Kim Tae-jun, and that when the seller Yi Yong-jun asked 1,000 won he paid 10,000 as it was worth far more. After liberation he made its existence known to scholars; it became National Treasure No. 70 in 1962 and a UNESCO Memory of the World in 1997. The date and place of acquisition differ by source.
Honors
He was posthumously awarded the Cultural Merit Medal in 1962, the Order of Cultural Merit Dongbaek class in 1964 and the Geumgwan (Gold Crown) Order of Cultural Merit in 2014. The clan association lists him among its proud members.
Grave
His burial place was not confirmed. The Jeon Hyeong-pil house in Banghak-dong, Seoul was designated Registered Cultural Heritage No. 521 in 2012.
Descendants
He had two sons, Jeon Seong-u and Jeon Yeong-u, and the Gansong Art and Culture Foundation was established in 2013. The novelist Park Jong-hwa was his maternal cousin (Wikipedia).