Late painter’s works face counterfeit woes

50 years after his death, artist’s works have lost reputation

　A curse seems to be attached to master painter Lee Jung-sup (1916-1956), who is famous for his delicate renderings of bulls, fish, and children. The 50th anniversary of the death of Lee, who died without relatives by his side at a Seoul hospital on Sept. 6, 1956, passed without attracting attention.

Marking the anniversary were a handful of artists, who visited Lee’s grave at Manguri Public Cemetery on the outskirts of Seoul. The artist’s wife, Masako Yamamoto, 84, and his second son did not attend, choosing to stay in Japan, no doubt because of recent controversy over the verity of some works purported to be Lee’s. The anniversary was not marked by any exhibitions or academic events. Soguipo on Jeju Island, where Lee stayed during the Korean War, plans to hold the 9th Lee Jung-sup art festival September 14-17, consisting of a few events, such as an academic seminar and a painting contest.

Lee’s drawings used to garner over 100 million won (US$108,000) because of their rarity. Last March, however, controversy ensued over several of Lee’s works after they were said to have been counterfeited. Since then, his works have not appeared on the market. Galleries and auction houses do not even want to mention his paintings, let alone trade them.

The situation is likely to continue, as the prosecution has not completed its case surrounding the allegedly faked paintings. The investigation was launched after the artist’s son, Lee Tae-seong, sued the Korean Art Appraisal Association after it deemed as fakes four works alleged to be by his father. The son had presented the paintings to be sold at the Seoul Auction House when the appraisal association made its ruling.

According to the prosecution, during the span of its investigation, 58 works it has received that were allegedly painted by Lee and another artist were in fact faked.

"It is difficult to track down the criminals because most of the questionable works were painted more than 10 years ago, and the criminals acted individually," said an official for the prosecution.

The prosecution has urged Lee Tae-seong to come to Korea from Japan to cooperate with the investigation, but he has rejected their request.

Recent efforts to secure a fairer system of art appraisal have failed. The Galleries Association of Korea’s appraisal committee and the Korean Art Appraisal Association held negotiations over their possible unification, a move that would render appraisal practices more uniform, but those talks collapsed earlier this year. The two only agreed to establish an ’art appraisal academy.’ The art world can only hope that Lee’s paintings – some with the magnificent juxtaposition of Koguryo design with a style suggesting a child’s innocence - will emerge from the shadows as soon as possible.