{"id":136177,"date":"2026-08-29T13:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T13:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/136177\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T13:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T13:36:13","slug":"seouls-new-art-museum-opens-with-a-major-cubism-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/136177\/","title":{"rendered":"Seoul’s New Art Museum Opens With a Major Cubism Exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Installation<\/p>\n

Seoul has a new destination for modern and contemporary art<\/a>. Opened in June 2026, Centre Pompidou Hanwha<\/a> brings the collection and artistic legacy of Paris\u2019s Centre Pompidou<\/a> to South Korea<\/a> through a partnership with the Hanwha Foundation of Culture<\/a>. Its inaugural exhibition, The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision, introduces the museum with a sweeping look at the movement that transformed modern art.<\/p>\n

Designed by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Centre Pompidou Hanwha occupies a renovated four-story annex of Seoul\u2019s 63 Building. Two exhibition galleries form the heart of the museum, with additional spaces dedicated to education and public programs. Alongside exhibitions drawn from the Centre Pompidou collection, the museum plans to present Korean and international artists.<\/p>\n

The opening exhibition features 112 works by 54 artists and traces Cubism<\/a> from its emergence around 1907 through its international expansion in the 1920s. Works by Pablo Picasso<\/a>, Georges Braque, Fernand L\u00e9ger, Juan Gris, Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, and Natalia Goncharova demonstrate how quickly Cubism grew beyond the experiments of its two best-known pioneers.<\/p>\n

Picasso and Braque\u2019s early experiments provide the foundation. By rejecting traditional perspective and breaking subjects into geometric planes, the artists developed a new way of representing the world. Other creatives soon took Cubism in different directions. Salon Cubism brought its ideas to a wider public, while Orphic Cubism emphasized color, rhythm, and abstraction. Synthetic Cubism introduced collage and everyday materials, further expanding the movement\u2019s possibilities.<\/p>\n

But the exhibition is not only about how Cubism changed European art. A special section, KOREA FOCUS: A Dream Map Toward the Modern Avant-Garde, examines what happened when these ideas entered Korea.<\/p>\n

Located on the mezzanine of Gallery 2, KOREA FOCUS brings together works by Korean modern and contemporary artists including Kim Whanki, Yoo Youngkuk, Park Rehyun, Lee Soo-auck, and Ham Daejeong. The section traces how Korean artists encountered Cubism and other European avant-garde movements<\/a> and transformed them through their own cultural and historical experiences.<\/p>\n

The story reaches back to the 1920s and 1930s, when Korean artists began engaging with new European approaches to form and abstraction. These ideas took on renewed significance after liberation and the Korean War, as artists moved beyond naturalistic representation and searched for new visual languages.<\/p>\n

Together, the works demonstrate that Cubism did not simply arrive in Korea as a fixed European style. Korean artists adapted its fragmented forms, geometric structures, and shifting perspectives to subjects drawn from their own lives and circumstances.<\/p>\n

This cultural exchange is central to Centre Pompidou Hanwha\u2019s identity. The new museum places its international holdings in conversation with Korean art and history. Its first exhibition makes that approach clear, using Cubism as both a history of modern art and a starting point for exploring how artistic ideas change as they move across cultures.<\/p>\n

The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision is on view through October 4, 2026, at Centre Pompidou Hanwha in Seoul.<\/p>\n

Centre Pompidou Hanwha opened in Seoul in June 2026, bringing the Paris institution\u2019s collection and artistic legacy to South Korea.<\/p>\n

\"Installation<\/p>\n

\"Installation<\/p>\n

\"Installation<\/p>\n

\"Installation<\/p>\n

The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision\u00a0traces Cubism from Picasso and Braque\u2019s early experiments to the movement\u2019s international evolution.
\n\"Marie<\/p>\n

Marie Laurencin, Apollinaire and his Friends (second version), 1909, Oil on canvas, 130 \u00d7 194 cm. Dation, 1973. Centre Pompidou, Paris \u00a9 Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI\/Audrey Laurans\/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/p>\n

Robert Delaunay, The City of Paris, 1910\u20131912, Oil on canvas, 267 \u00d7 406 cm. Purchased by the State, 1936; attribution, 1937. Centre Pompidou, Paris \u00a9 Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI\/Georges Meguerditchian\/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn<\/p>\n

\"Pablo<\/p>\n

Pablo Picasso, Stage Curtain for Soir\u00e9e de Paris (known as the \u201cMercure Curtain\u201d), 1924, Glue-based paint on canvas, 392 \u00d7 501 cm. Purchase, 1955. Centre Pompidou, Paris \u00a9 2026 \u2013 Succession Pablo Picasso \u2013 SACK (Korea) \u00a9 Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI\/Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Tomasian\/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn<\/p>\n

The exhibition\u2019s KOREA FOCUS section shows how Korean artists adapted Cubist ideas to their own cultural and historical experiences.
\n\"Lee<\/p>\n

Lee Soo-auck, The Korean War, 1954, Oil on canvas, 96 x 160 cm, Gana Art Foundation Collection<\/p>\n

\"Park<\/p>\n

Park Re-hyun, Open Stalls, 1956, Ink and color on paper, 267 x 210 cm, MMCA Collection<\/p>\n

\"Georges<\/p>\n

Georges Braque, The Viaduct at L\u2019Estaque. Early 1908, Paris, Oil on canvas, 72.5 \u00d7 59 cm. Dation, 1984. Centre Pompidou, Paris \u00a9 Georges Braque \/ ADAGP, Paris \u2013 SACK, Seoul, 2026 \u00a9 Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI\/Georges Meguerditchian\/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn<\/p>\n

\"Pablo<\/p>\n

Pablo Picasso, The Guitarist, summer 1910, Oil on canvas, 100 \u00d7 73 cm. Gift of Andr\u00e9 and Jeanne Lef\u00e8vre, 1952. Centre Pompidou, Paris \u00a9 2026 \u2013 Succession Pablo Picasso \u2013 SACK(Korea) \u00a9 Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI\/Philippe Migeat\/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn<\/p>\n

Together, the exhibition and new museum create a dialogue between European modernism and Korean art, establishing Centre Pompidou Hanwha as a new cultural destination in Seoul.
\n\"Juan<\/p>\n

Juan Gris, The Breakfast Table, october 1915, Oil and charcoal on canvas, 92 \u00d7 73 cm<\/p>\n

\"Francis<\/p>\n

Francis Picabia, Udnie (Young American Girl; The Dance), 1913, Oil on canvas, 290 \u00d7 300 cm. Purchase, 1979. Centre Pompidou, Paris \u00a9 Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI\/Audrey Laurans\/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn<\/p>\n

\"Natalia<\/p>\n

Natalia Goncharova, Lady with a Hat, 1913, Oil on canvas, 90 \u00d7 66 cm. Gift of Jean Cassou, 1960. Centre Pompidou, Paris \u00a9 Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI\/Audrey Laurans\/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn<\/p>\n

\"Installation<\/p>\n

Exhibition Information:
The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision
June 4\u2013October 4, 2026
Centre Pompidou Hanwha
63 Building, 50 63-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
\nCentre Pompidou Hanwha: Website<\/a> | Instagram<\/a>
\nMy Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Centre Pompidou Hanwha.
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