Darga put RI artists on global map<\/p>\n
By Jean Couteau<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When art connoisseurs visit Bali, what they are
\nnormally looking for are old traditional Kamasan paintings or
\nworks of modern Indonesian masters, both of which they can find
\nin the main galleries of the island. Now they may come for
\nPicasso, Renoir and others.<\/p>\n
The Darga gallery opened its new premises on Sept. 2 with an
\nexhibition of some of the greatest names of modern western art
\npresented together with works of the most famous Indonesian
\nmasters. The exhibition will last Sept. 23. Besides Picasso and
\nRenoir, there are Corot, Chagall, Matisse, Braque, Leger, Dufy,
\nRouault, and the lesser masters Lhote, Hayden, Corneille,
\nFoujita, Kisling and Buffet, while on the Indonesian side, one
\nnotices names such as Soedjojono, Hendra Gunawan, Affandi,
\nNashar, Wianta and Erawan. With this exhibition, called \"Modern
\nMasters of Indonesia and Europe\", the Indonesian art scene is
\nbecoming fully \"international\".<\/p>\n
Such at least is the intention of the Gallery's owner, Jais
\nDargawijaya. An ambitious young woman, she has for years chased
\nmasters' works in auction houses and artists' studios, and she
\nhas now come up with this peculiar confrontation of eastern
\n(Indonesian) and European (mainly French) masters. This
\nexhibition is a milestone just by the very fact that it is taking
\nplace. It informs us of the coming of age of the Indonesian art
\nworld, whose dealers -- Jais has no reluctance describing herself
\nthis way -- are now claiming a place for themselves on the
\ninternational scene.<\/p>\n
Previous exhibitions of modern western masters in Indonesia
\nhave never been as complete or as impressive as this one. For the
\nfirst time, we have in Darga a genuine Indonesian gallery dealing
\nin western masters for the Indonesian market. Western art is
\nbecoming the \"exotic craze\" for Indonesian connoisseurs. Jais
\ndoes not stop there, though. She also intends to take Indonesian
\nartists to Europe, where she is scheduled to open a gallery next
\nyear in Paris.<\/p>\n
Should we compare western and Indonesian modernism? Perhaps
\nnot. The European painters have almost all played a pioneering
\nrole. In their work, elements are present which have
\nrevolutionized the way we see and represent reality and art
\nitself. Renoir for example -- whose work at Darga's looks almost
\n\"ordinary\" -- has played an important role in changing our
\nperception and knowledge of light, movement and color, while
\nPicasso and Braque have taught us that a work of art is always
\n\"constructed\" from pieces of \"perception\". Indonesian artists can
\nonly be different, as they operate against a different historical
\nand cultural background. Like all artists from the West and
\nmodern East alike, they too are inheritors of the early modernist
\npainters, they are free from any convention of form and color.
\nWhat they can contribute is a rethinking and reformulation of the
\nsymbols, colors and forms of their rich culture, on a par with
\nartists from other parts of the worlds.<\/p>\n
Among the works exhibited, some warrant particular attention.
\nThe name Corot may not draw crowds in Indonesia, but he is one of
\nthe greatest painters of the 19th century. His Chaumiere devant
\nun rideau de peupliers (Cottage Before a Row of Poplars) is a
\nclassical example of the French Realist school which preceded
\nImpressionism. Corot knows all the tricks and rules of classical
\nrepresentation, but he makes them simple and imperceptible,
\ncombining volumes in a luminous atmosphere of grays in a manner
\nthat foreshadows the impressionists.<\/p>\n
In Renoir's Jeune Fille sur le Sentier (Young Girl on a Path),
\nwe recognize the subtle variations in light and the imperceptible
\nmovements of leaves and other natural objects which are
\ntrademarks of the impressionists. From Matisse, L'Atelier a
\nLutrin (Studio in Lutrin) is an intermediary work announcing the
\nburst of creativity typical of the artist's later life. In Les
\nCabines we have a good example of Dufy's early fauvist days,
\nalthough he had not yet evolved his peculiar brushstroke.
\nRouault's Soleil Couchant (Sunset) displays the artist's typical
\nblend of fauvism and expressionism.<\/p>\n
But arguably the best pieces from the European masters are the
\ncubist ones. Picasso's Profile of a Woman in an Armchair is
\nclassical, displaying the usual combination of frontal and
\nprofile view which so shocked the public before making the
\npainter's reputation. As for Braque's Verre et Raisins, this is
\nthe exhibition's real masterpiece. The inventor of cubism,
\ntogether with Picasso, does not simply \"analyze\" perception of
\nthe visible, nor does he break down its representation into
\ngeometrical elements, as in early cubism, he is going a step
\nfurther, reinventing reality around the pretext of glass and
\ngrapes.<\/p>\n
In this work, aesthetic concerns combine with theoretical
\nones, and the cubist painter turns into a colorist. Fernand
\nLeger's Nature Morte (Still life) displays the meeting point of
\ncubism and surrealism, where the cubist technique of
\ndecomposition of reality integrates with the ethereal world of
\nsurrealist dreams. The other works are relatively minor, with the
\nexception of the two Chagall. One, made during WWII, shows the
\ncrucifixion of Christ, the hope of the crucified Jew in an
\natmosphere of darkness, while the other is a visual parable on
\nthe theme of love. Mention should be made also of Corneille, a
\nmember of the post-WWII Cobra Group, whose poetic mythology in La
\nReine de Saba presages the comic strip of Boisrond and Combas in
\nthe 1980's.<\/p>\n
Among the Indonesian painters, two draw particular attention.
\nComposition IV by Nashar, in his \"Matisse-like\" play of colors,
\nconfirms him as one of the best Indonesian abstract painters of
\nthe last three decades. While Srihadi's Two Dancers are yet
\nanother exercise in the magic of color -- red on red, white on
\nwhite -- in the artist's long pursuit of the essence of things.<\/p>\n
There is more indeed. Not all artists can be discussed here.
\nIf there is a critique to make about this exhibition, indeed it
\nis its eclecticism. Several schools are represented, French
\nrealism (Corot), cubism (Picasso, Braque, Leger, Hayden), fauvism
\n(Dufy, Matisse), cobra (Corneille), but too few works of each are
\nexhibited to clearly show the evolutionary process from the one
\nto the other, while abstract and contemporary works are dropped
\naltogether.<\/p>\n
Will Darga really be a meeting point of cultures? We sincerely
\nhope so, as we hope the cultural encounters of the future will be
\naddressed not only to collectors, but also to the people at
\nlarge. Globalization is also education.<\/p>",
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