Image: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, has drawn attention to a work by Lee Dae-won that is believed to depict Columbia Road in Washington, D.C. The identification is based on an English inscription found on the back of the work, according to the museum’s note.
The source does not provide a confirmed title, date or current exhibition location for the work. It presents the Columbia Road identification as an inference rather than an established fact, based on the inscription and on Lee’s documented stay in the United States and Europe in 1957.
That travel history offers a possible context for the image. The museum describes the work as appearing to have been made from urban scenery Lee encountered during that period. No further details are supplied about the circumstances of his travel, the length of his stay, or the work’s provenance.
The composition is organized around a prominent structure positioned at the center of the picture. The building rises in a tower-like form, while the road and a wall are arranged along diagonal lines that converge into a V-shaped configuration, directing the viewer’s gaze through the scene.
The brief notice was issued by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, whose listed website is mmca.go.kr. It does not announce an exhibition, acquisition or event connected with the work, and the available source material does not identify whether the piece is currently on public display.
