Jeon Hyeongpil

Jeon Hyeongpil
Hangul	전형필
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Chun Hyeong-pil
McCune–Reischauer	Chun Hyŏng-p'il
Pen name
Hangul	간송, 지산, 취설재
Hanja	, ,
Revised Romanization	Kansong, Jisan, Chwi Seol-jae
McCune–Reischauer	Kansong, Chisan, Ch'wi Sŏl-chae
Courtesy name
Hangul	천뢰
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Cheonnoe
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'ŏlloe

Jeon Hyeongpil (in Hangul:전형필, in Hanja:全鎣弼, July 29, 1906 ~ January 26, 1962 Seoul) was a Korean educationist and an art collector who gathered hundreds of Korean cultural assets and had the pen name of Gansong. He is famous for his great achievement to collect 12 national treasures, 10 treasures and 4 cultural assets designated by Seoul metropolitan government. He strove to bring back Korean cultural assets and heritage from Japan since a great deal of Korean antiquities were taken by Japanese collectors during colonial rule of Japan in the early 20th century. The first private art museum was built in 1938 named Bohwagak(in Hangul:보화각) and later took care of most of valuable Korean antiquities during Korean War. After his death in 1962, the name Bohwagak was changed into Gansong Art Museum which only opens twice in a year since 1971. The museum cherishes a great deal of the rarest cultural artifacts of Korean art.

He was born into a wealthy family in 1906. In 1926, he graduated from Whimoon High School and then went to Law department of Waseda University. His father was able to possess a great fortune by expanding his shops along Jongno street, current central area of Seoul.

In 1932, he overtook his work to collect Korean antiquities at own expense to protect Korean art and culture. His top priority was to preserve Korean artifacts during Japanese rule. It is said that an independent activist Go Hui-dong and O se-chang influenced Jeon's philosophy and philanthropic passion for Korean arts.

For achieving his own ambition, he established an art institute, Bukdanjang(북단장, 北壇莊) to research the value of priceless treasures and antiquities and built Bohwagak building, the first private art museum of Korea in the existing institute at his age of 32(1938).

In 1940, he was seated as a principal of Boseong high school currently in Songpa district of Seoul and later organized the group Dongin, the first Korean association on art history. Art history association of Korea has been rooted in this organization.

In 1962, he was posthumously honored to the cultural medals by South Korean government. Bohwagak was later transformed to The institute of Korean ethnic art to study and research collections of Mr. Jeon in 1966, which later became reopened under the name of Kansong Art Museum since 1971.

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