By Jung Joo-ri and Yoon Hee Young

A gallery featuring the works of modern artist Lee Ufan's paintings and sculptures has opened in the southern French city of Arles.

The official website of the artist, StudioLeeUfan, and French media including the daily Le Monde said the facility was opened on April 15 at Hotel Vernon in Arles, with around 10 of his sculptures and installation works and 30 of his paintings.

The Lee Ufan Foundation purchased the hotel and famed Japanese architect Tadao Ando renovated it. Built between the 16th and 18th centuries, the three-story structure covers 1,350 square m with 25 rooms.

Arles is famous as the home of ruins from the Roman Empire era such as the Arles Amphitheatre and for being where Vincent Van Gogh created numerous masterpieces, including "Cafe Terrace at Night" (1888).

The gallery is the third exhibition venue to feature Lee's works after Space Lee Ufan at Busan Museum of Art in Busan and Lee Ufan Museum at Benesse Art Site Naoshima in Naoshima, Japan.

Lee on the same day said in an interview with a foreign media outlet, "Many think that a gallery is an exhibition space but I have a different opinion," adding, "I wanted to make this venue 'a place of life.'"

Considered a master of abstract art, Lee is one of Korea's most globally renowned artists whose work set a Korean record price on the international art market. His painting "East Winds" (1984) in August last year went for KRW 3.1 billion at the Seoul Auction, the first artwork by a living Korean artist to sell for over KRW 3 billion.

Born in Haman-gun County, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, in 1936, Lee dropped out of the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University and moved to Japan to study at Nihon University, earning a bachelor's in philosophy. Holding his first exhibition at the Biennale de Paris in 1971, he set up his studio in the French capital and has mainly worked there.

In 2017, he received the Legion of Honor, the French government's highest order of merit, and works mostly in Paris, Tokyo and Seoul.

etoilejr@korea.kr