An Orphan Painting: Back In the Open After 26 Years

It’s incredible how a painting slightly bigger than an A4-sized sheet of paper could aggravate so many people for so long. 26 years ago, a painting was at the center of one of South Korea’s biggest art scandals. It was part of an ambitious government-sponsored exhibition, held in the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), one of the country’s most prominent public museums. Its copies were distributed in pamphlets and posters, one of which was brought to the attention of the arti