The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art is a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 in Hannam-dong

Hannam-dong

Hannam-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Yongsan-gu in Seoul, South Korea.Initially not belonging to Yongsan ward, it was just a little hamlet called Han-River-Village belonging to Hanji within Goyang County and lying close near Han river, during Korea under Japanese rule's period.-External links:*...

, Yongsan-gu

Yongsan-gu

Yongsan-gu is a district of Seoul, South Korea. Its name means "Dragon Hill", derived from the hanja characters for dragon and hill/mountain . It sits to the North of the Han River under the shadow of Seoul Tower. Geographically, it is located right in the center of Seoul. It is home to roughly...

, Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, run by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. It comprises two parts that house traditional Korean art and contemporary art. Museum one is designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta

Mario Botta

Mario Botta is a Swiss architect. He studied at the Liceo Artistico in Milan and the IUAV in Venice. His ideas were influenced by Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, Louis Kahn. He opened his own practice in 1970 in Lugano.-Career:...

 and Museum two is by French architect Jean Nouvel

Jean Nouvel

Jean Nouvel is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of Mars 1976 and Syndicat de l'Architecture...

 and Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas

Rem Koolhaas

Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...

 designed the children’s centre.

Collection

Museum one houses a collection of traditional Korean art, of which 36 pieces are designated national treasures. Included in the collection are landscapes and folk paintings, traditional ceramics and porcelain, such as Celadon

Celadon

Celadon is a term for ceramics denoting both a type of glaze and a ware of a specific color, also called celadon. This type of ware was invented in ancient China, such as in the Zhejiang province...

 and Buncheong

Buncheong

Buncheong ware, or Punch'ong ware is a form of traditional Korean stoneware, with a bluish-green tone. Pots are coated with a white slip, and decorative designs are painted on using an iron pigment. The style emerged in the early Joseon Dynasty, largely replacing celadon in common use...

, a bluish-green traditional Korean stoneware. As well as 14th century daggers, crowns, earrings and ornaments; and Buddhist art, sculptures, paintings and manuscripts.

Museum two features modern and contemporary art from both Korean and foreign artists.

Special exhibitions: The Court Painters of Joseon Dynasty - from October 2011 to January 2012.