Flip Sides: Seeing Korean Art Anew

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Korea, Kashyapa (detail), dated 1700. Wood with polychrome paint, H. 22 in. (55.9 cm); W. 9 in. (22.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1942 (42.25.8)

Most objects are displayed to show their “best” angle meant to impress, sometimes hiding intriguing details. Flip Sides: Seeing Korean Art Anew invites close looking and offers multiple views of the inside, reverse, or hard-to-see aspects of objects.

Bringing together approximately 50 objects from The Met collection, with more than half displayed for the first time, this exhibition, with a rotation, shows treasured Korean traditions. By presenting them in ways that give us a fuller picture into each object’s unique form, Flip Sides provides insight into the construction and function of works in metal, wood, ceramic, textiles, and lacquer. A Buddhist sculpture that held offerings inside, a porcelain jar of striking openwork that conceals an inner chamber, a bronze mirror with a delicately incised image, and a king’s lacquer letter box with linings featuring impressive calligraphy are among the featured objects in Flip Sides.

During the exhibition, a selection of artworks will come off view and be replaced by new works:

Rotation 1: March 16–October 18, 2026

Rotation 2: October 31, 2026–May 31, 2027

Met Expert Talks—Flip Sides

May 14, 3:00 PM

The exhibition is made possible by The Kun-Hee Lee Fund for Korean Art.