Korean treasures from late Samsung Chairman's collection on display in the US

The late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee was an avid collector of art. His personal collection was as varied as it was vast, covering various eras of history, particularly centuries-old Korean art. Lee Kun-Hee was the father of Jay Y. Lee, the current chairman of Samsung.

Some of those pieces from his renowned art collection are now being displayed in the United States at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC.

This will be the first US exhibition of these masterpieces under the Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, and Shared exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.

This exhibition runs through February 1, 2026. There will more than 200 works on display, including rare National Treasures, that span over 1,500 years of Korean history. This exhibition has been made possible by a collaboration between the Smithsonian and Samsung.

This is the very first time that a selection of these works is being displayed in the United States. Visitors can experience the various treasures across ten galleries, which include everything from Buddhist sculptures to furnishings that defined quiet luxury before it became a phenomenon.

The Lee Kun-Hee Collection is one of the defining collections of Korean history. It has painstakingly assembled over decades by the late Samsung Chairman. A lot of it has flowed to the public since then, as more than 23,000 works from the collection were donated to the Republic of Korea in 2021.