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A stone building behind a fountain pond under a blue sky inside Deoksugung
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Free on Wednesday and Saturday Nights: Lee Dae-won Retrospective at MMCA Deoksugung, Until Nov. 8

Why NOW picked itA good Wednesday or Saturday after-work stop: the 6-9 p.m. night opening is free. The palace gate stops admitting at 8 p.m., so don't arrive late.

A retrospective of painter Lee Dae-won (이대원) is on inside Deoksugung Palace in Seoul until Nov. 8. On Wednesday and Saturday nights, 6 to 9 p.m., the museum is open late and the show is free.

The first big retrospective at this branch

The show is titled "Lee Dae-won: Nothing Here Can Make You Sad" (이대원: 당신을 슬프게 하는 것은 하나도 없다). It opened Aug. 6 and is the first large-scale retrospective at MMCA Deoksugung.

Expect about 120 oil paintings, around 100 archive items and antiques the artist collected himself.

The neoclassical Seokjojeon with its row of columns and a fountain in front
The neoclassical Seokjojeon with its row of columns and a fountain in front

Bright colours, not a naive painter

Lee is best known for orchard landscapes. Curator Bae Won-jeong says, "We have known Lee Dae-won far too superficially."

His bright canvases, she explains, are not simple optimism but the result of long observation and restraint. The show follows how the paintings came about rather than their showy colour.

After 6 p.m. it costs nothing

MMCA Deoksugung is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and until 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Saturday. The 6-9 p.m. night opening is free, and so is Culture Day on the last Wednesday of the month (Oct. 28). The palace gate stops admitting at 8 p.m.

Normal admission is 2,000 won, with a separate 1,000 won palace ticket. Closed Mondays.

A low palace hall in front of a blue sky and high-rise buildings
A low palace hall in front of a blue sky and high-rise buildings
Sources & context

2026-10-21T23:19:11.601Z

MMCA Deoksugung visitor information ↗Newsis (Aug. 5, 2026) ↗Wikimedia Commons ↗Wikimedia Commons ↗Wikimedia Commons ↗
Photo creditddol-mang (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 2.0

A stone museum building and fountain garden inside Deoksugung Palace (2007; not a photo of the exhibition). ddol-mang / CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons

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