From Kim Whanki’s previously unseen dot painting to prints starting at 0 won, Seoul Auction’s Auction Show opens on the 11th

[Financial News] An art event where visitors can experience both viewing and collecting is set to open, featuring everything from Kim Whanki’s blue all-over dot painting, being shown in Korea for the first time, to prints with a starting bid of 0 won. The event caters to a wide range of collecting tastes, adding posters, crafts and jewelry to paintings and sculptures.
According to Seoul Auction on the 2nd, the ‘2026 Auction Show (AUCTION SHOW)’ will take place from the 11th to the 24th at Seoul Auction Gangnam Center in Gangnam District, Seoul. Around 1,000 works will be offered, with 12 auctions and eight exhibitions, as well as brand pop-ups, talks and docent programs.■ Previously unseen dot painting by Kim Whanki and Korean and international mastersThe evening sale, which opens at 5 p.m. on the 23rd, will feature 34 works with an estimated total value of about 19 billion won. Kim Whanki’s 1971 work ‘30-XI-71 #212’ will be shown in Korea for the first time, with a low estimate of 2.8 billion won.
On the elongated canvas, measuring 152 cm wide and 46.8 cm high, blue dots create tonal gradations and a rhythm of repetition. A 1969 cross-composition painting and Mountain and Moon works from the 1960s will also be presented, offering a chance to trace changes in his style.
During his New York period from 1963 to 1974, Kim Whanki deepened his abstraction by transforming concrete forms into dots and lines. All-over dot painting, in which dots are repeatedly applied across the entire canvas, is a signature late style that brings these experiments together.
A painting by Damien Hirst that uses real butterflies and stands about 3 meters tall will also be offered, with a low estimate of 2.4 billion won. From a distance it looks like stained glass in a cathedral, but up close the shapes of the butterflies emerge. One work from Lee Ufan’s 1977 dot series has a low estimate of 1.25 billion won. Four paintings by Yayoi Kusama and a large Joseon white porcelain jar, with a low estimate of 1 billion won, will also be offered.
The Contemporary Day Sale on the 24th will feature 73 works with an estimated total value of about 4.1 billion won. Highlights include a painting by Woo Kukwon inspired by the novel ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and a large-scale edition by Do Ho Suh.
The ‘Modern (MODERN)’ exhibition, running during the event, will feature works by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Renoir, Park Su-geun, Lee Jung-seob and others.
■ From auctions starting at 0 won to Pokémon cardsThe print auction for newcomers to the auction world will be held on the 13th. Offerings include limited-edition prints produced after Chagall’s death from images in his original works, as well as around 40 prints by Kim Jeom-seon. The starting bid for each work is either 0 won or 10,000 won.
The starting bid is the amount at which bidding begins and is distinct from the final hammer price. The actual purchase price includes the buyer’s premium and VAT in addition to the hammer price.
A special auction will be held on the 14th to sell luxury bags, watches, gold bars and other items seized by the National Tax Service from major tax delinquents. On the 20th, World Children’s Day, a UNICEF charity auction will follow, featuring works donated by Lee Bae, Kim Sun-woo, Eva Armisen and others.
The exhibitions will also showcase the diverse strands of collecting culture. They will feature new works by American artist Devon DeJardin and a cover-art collaboration with The8 of Seventeen. From the 19th to the 24th, visitors can also see Pokémon cards created in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum and cards reinterpreting works by Edvard Munch.
Free docent tours will be held from the 11th to the 22nd at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. A discussion featuring KAIST Professor Kim Dai-sik and lectures by art historian Kim In-hye and others are also planned.
Admission costs 22,000 won, and visitors may return throughout the event. Bidding requires membership registration and registration for a paddle (bidding number). Talks and the art brunch require separate reservations and payment in addition to admission; the participation fees are 25,000 won and 50,000 won, respectively.

[email protected] Jang In-seo Reporter