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What does BTS leader RM have in his art collection?

The K-pop rapper-songwriter will share his collection in a curated exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art next year

To take place from October 2026 to February 2027, the exhibition titled “RM x SFMOMA” will juxtapose his collection, built over several years, with the museum showcase. (Source: Instagram/SFMOMA)

Known to be a keen art connoisseur, South Korean K-pop group BTS leader RM (Kim Namjoon) will soon share his personal art collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

To take place from October 2026 to February 2027, the exhibition titled “RM x SFMOMA” will juxtapose his collection, built over several years, with the museum showcase. “We live in an age defined by boundaries. This exhibition at SFMOMA reflects those boundaries: between East and West, Korea and America, the modern and the contemporary, the personal and the universal. I don’t want to prescribe how these works should be seen; whether out of curiosity or study, all perspectives are welcome. My only hope is that this exhibition can be a small but sturdy bridge for many,” noted the South Korean rapper-songwriter in a social media post.

While it is believed that the influential artiste’s interest in art was piqued by museum visits during the group’s tours to the US and Europe, the upcoming exhibition will also see him turn curator, collaborating with SFMOMA museum curators América Castillo and Hyoeun Kim.

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On view will be 200 works, including those by Korean modern and contemporary artists such as Yun Hyong-keun, Kim Yun Shin, Park Rehyun, Sang Bong, Kwon Okyon and Chang Ucchin, among others. These will reportedly be paired with works from SFMOMA’s collection by US and European artists, including Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe and Paul Klee, as well as Korean abstractionist Kim Whanki. “… offering a rare chance to see modern Korean artworks in conversation with contemporary artworks from around the world. Many of these artworks have never been exhibited to the public,” stated SFMOMA in a note.

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The rapper-singer has supported several art initiatives in the past. While his first album Indigo (2022) was dedicated to late Korean painter Yun Hyong-keun, in 2021, RM donated 100 million Korean Won to the Overseas Cultural Heritage Foundation to help restore and preserve Korean cultural assets abroad, including a Joseon Dynasty hwarot (bridal robe) at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

In 2022, he filmed a live performance at the Dia Beacon art museum in the US, highlighting works by artists such as Robert Irwin, John Chamberlain, Richard Serra, and Dan Flavin.