The first national treasure auction… no one dared to raise their hand

The gilt-bronze three-honored Buddha statue and the gilt-bronze three-honored Buddha from the Kansong Museum of Art were auctioned for the first time among national treasures on the 27th, but they were sold. It is interpreted that private collectors gave up bidding as public opinion arose against the sale and sale of national treasures preserved by Hyeong-pil Hyeong-pil (1906-1962), a national treasure, during the Japanese colonial period.

Art auction company K Auction said that two national treasures owned by Jeon In-geon, director of the Kansong Museum of Art, were submitted at the auction held on the same day, but no one raised their hand. The starting price of the auction was 3.2 billion won for the gilt-bronze triad, and 2.8 billion won for the gilt-bronze triad. Among them, the gilt-bronze three-headed Buddhist statue of Gyemi-myeong-geum-bronze is engraved with the date of its foundation (563), and is considered a masterpiece with high art history.

The National Museum of Korea, which is considered a strong buyer, did not participate in the auction in consideration of the limitation of the cost of purchasing relics set at 3.97 billion won per year. This is because the museum determined that the starting price of the auction was higher than the amount set by the museum after three internal reviews. The need to separately pay an auction fee of up to 10% of the successful bid price was also known to be a burdensome factor. An official from the museum said, “We also considered that if a state institution using the state money announces its intention to participate in the auction, it may itself affect the price formation.”

In the case of private collectors, there is an analysis that they felt burdened by public opinion criticizing the Kansong Art Museum, which first put a national treasure on the auction market. Previously, Kansong’s agency appealed that there was no way to resolve the inheritance tax imposed by the passing of Jeon Seong-woo, former chairman of the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation in 2018. However, 46 items such as national treasures and treasures inherited by Director Jeon In-geon are exempt from taxation. In addition, it is known that about 10,000 non-designated cultural assets are not subject to inheritance tax because ownership has been transferred from individuals to the foundation.

Academia has also criticized the need to purchase national treasures owned by the descendants of Gansong without even paying inheritance tax. “The descendants have lost the spirit of Kansong,” said a professor of archeology and art history. An official from Kansong, who requested anonymity, said, “The foundation was in financial trouble and borrowed money from K Auction in 2020. We didn’t have enough cash to repay the loan, so we put out two treasures and two national treasures.”

At an auction held on the 27th at K Auction’s headquarters in Seoul, the national treasure ‘Gold-bronze Trinity Buddha’ is being introduced. Provided by K Auction

As this auction was bid, the possibility that the National Museum of Korea will directly trade like the two treasures released by Kansong two years ago has increased. This is because the price can be lowered compared to auctions and there is no fee burden. The museum purchased two pieces of Kansong treasure bid at an auction in May 2020 for less than 3 billion won, which is less than the original auction price estimated by K Auction. The cultural heritage industry believes that if museums go into direct sales, they are highly likely to purchase the Gyemi Mei-Geum-Bronze Triad Statue among the two national treasures considering the budget constraints. This is because there are not many Buddhist statues made in the Three Kingdoms period remaining in Korea, which makes them rare and has a high historical value as the inscription ‘It was made in November of the year Gyemi’ was engraved.

Reporter Lee So-yeon always99@donga.com