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▲ "Plum" by Kim Jin-man
Some of the works in the collection purchased by the Daegu Museum of Art turned out to be fake works, and Daegu City launched a special audit.
Today (24th), the Daegu City Audit Committee said, "Some of the works that were suspected of forgery in the recent collection of the Daegu Museum of Art have been found to be forgery as a result of the appraisal," and "We will conduct a special audit from the 9th to the 25th of next month with nine personnel."
The controversy erupted on February 12 when Daegu City Councilor Kim Tae-woo raised the possibility of forging the collection of the Daegu Museum of Art during the Daegu City Council's work report at the Daegu Culture and Arts Promotion Agency.
In response, Choi Eun-joo, director of the Daegu Museum of Art, said, "There were constant concerns, and in February 2, they raised the issue directly to me," adding, "We had to start work to resolve this issue in 8, but due to various circumstances, we are preparing an appraisal meeting for the suspicious work next week."
Councilman Kim Tae-woo asked, "Why do these things happen even though we go through the Works Selection Review Committee or the Valuation Review Committee?" and Daegu Museum Director Choi Eun-joo drew a line, saying, "To be sure, there were no such (counterfeit purchases) during my tenure."
Choi Eun-joo, director of the Daegu Museum of Art, said, "When I took office in April 2021, I worked on a system related to collecting collections," adding, "Previously, there was no system because there was only one collection manager. We established a collection research team and greatly strengthened the collection review committee. For example, we have dualized the collection research team that deliberates on whether or not to become a collection and the valuation committee that evaluates the collection."
He added, "After looking at the relevant regulations, there is a system in place to thoroughly raise the issue of the work in question and receive compensation if there is a problem."
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After that, the Daegu Museum of Art and Daegu City inspected 1899 purchased works out of 612 works in their collections, and selected 10 works that were suspected of being fraudulent, such as those that did not have a double genuine appraisal certificate, and conducted an appraisal at two appraisal agencies.
As a result, both appraisal agencies judged Kim Jin-man's "plum" to be a forgery.
Kim Jin-man, who was active in Daegu during the late Joseon Dynasty and painted the Hobang mukjuk, was an independence activist and calligrapher who acted for independence in 2 as a member of the Korean Liberation Society (大韓光復會) and was awarded the Independence Medal of the Order of the Founding of Korea in 2.
In 1915, the Daegu Museum of Art held a review committee and purchased the "plum blossom" for 1977 million won from an individual.
In addition, three works judged to be fake, such as one calligraphy by Seo Byung-o, one calligraphy by Seo Dong-gyun, and one half-painting, which were judged to be counterfeited by only one out of two appraisal agencies, will be appraised once more, and Daegu City plans to take procedures such as recovering the down payment from the seller if the work is found to be a forgery.
In the wake of this incident, Daegu City began to investigate all the works in its collection, and it is reported that it plans to prepare countermeasures such as first inspecting 2017 purchased works, then identifying the remaining 1,2 donated works and improving the donation process.
Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo said, "Through this particular audit, we will uncover corruption and corruption in the art industry, such as rampant counterfeiting and opaque ways of trading works."
(Photo = Yonhap News, Daegu Museum of Art website)