Experts decry grand art auction as likely fraud<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An upcoming auction of a group of paintings
\ntouted as long-lost works of local and international masters may
\nturn out to be a huge swindle, experts warned on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Agus T. Darmawan angrily demanded that the organizers of the
\nexhibition and auction, titled The Old Paintings of Pre-World War
\nII, halt the event.<\/p>\n
Several of the 50 paintings are attributed to international
\nmasters, such as Pablo Picasso's El Toro Rosa (estimated sale
\nprice US$200,000), Pierre Auguste Renoir's Girl with a Flower
\n(reportedly found in Semarang and estimated at between $1.5
\nmillion and $2 million), Marc Chagall's A Bride's Dream (found in
\nDepok, West Java, estimated at $600,000) and van Gogh's Corn
\nFarmers (found in Riau and estimated at between $2 million and $4
\nmillion).<\/p>\n
Works attributed to Indonesian masters S. Soedjojono, Affandi
\nand Hendra Gunawan as well as foreign-born artists Rudolf Bonnet,
\nLe Mayeur and Arie Smit, who spent much of their lives in the
\ncountry, are also part of the event.<\/p>\n
First Lady Sinta Nuriyah, who was scheduled to open the two-
\nday exhibition at The Regent Hotel in Central Jakarta, failed to
\nshow on Wednesday evening. The auction, jointly organized by
\nBatavia Auctioneer and Amana Inc., is scheduled for Saturday
\nafternoon.<\/p>\n
\"This is the biggest scandal in modern Indonesian art and it
\nis a completely dubious art enterprise,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
He believed the auctioneer and the owner of the paintings were
\ntrying to defraud buyers. He said they once contacted him to
\nbecome their adviser but he refused.<\/p>\n
He said it was clear the organizers lacked knowledge about the
\narts. \"If they were out to do forgeries, they did it very
\nunprofessionally. This is a misleading exhibition and auction
\nwhich will ruin the image of Indonesian fine arts.\"<\/p>\n
Agus noted glaring mistakes in the catalog, such as a painting
\nof two Balinese dancers attributed to Smit, even though the
\npainter never used women as his subjects.<\/p>\n
The biggest blunder, he said, was that the organizers tried to
\nlegitimize their activities by inviting the participation of the
\nFirst Lady, Director General for Culture I Gusti N. Anom, who
\nwrote the introduction for the exhibition catalog, and Soelebar
\nSukarman from the Jakarta Arts Council, who is the event adviser.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Anom should have consulted his team of experts before
\nwriting an introduction in the catalog,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
Art critic Jim Supangkat acknowledged that Anom consulted him
\nbefore writing the introduction. \"But Pak Anom said the
\norganizers changed some parts of the content,\" Jim said by
\ntelephone from Bandung, West Java.<\/p>\n
Jim said he informed Anom about the history of Western
\npaintings collected by the Batavia Kunskring, an art collectors'
\ncircle founded in 1902.<\/p>\n
He said the circle acquired a substantial collection of works
\nby van Gogh, Chagall, Amadeo Modligiani and Monet. \"But we have
\nto view this in the appropriate framework. At that time, these
\npainters weren't as famous as they are now.\"<\/p>\n
Throughout the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, the
\npaintings were kept in storage at Javasche Bank (now Bank
\nIndonesia), but were reportedly returned to Europe sometime after
\nthe end of the war. Many of the works were bought by American
\nmuseums, prestigious galleries and collectors, Jim said.<\/p>\n
\"This means that the possibility of having those paintings
\nleft behind in Indonesia is ... very slim. There is almost no
\npossibility of finding a Picasso in a flea market or a van Gogh
\nin Riau, Semarang (Central Java) or Cianjur (West Java).\"<\/p>\n
Painter Soelebar recognized that the event was likely to spark
\ncontroversy in the local art community, because \"it is natural to
\nquestion the authenticity of the displayed works\".<\/p>\n
Soelebar said the paintings underwent laboratory tests by art
\nconservationist Puji Joseph from the National Museum. \"But it was
\nnot to check their authenticity, but only the period of each
\npainting.\"<\/p>\n
The president of Batavia Auctioneer, Jonathan Gunawan, said
\nhis firm and the client did not intend to cheat buyers. \"We
\ninvite art experts to see our paintings here and to determine for
\nthemselves whether they are fakes or originals.\"<\/p>\n
The owner, A.GA Fine Art's, found the artworks over a period
\nof 20 years, Jonathan said.<\/p>\n
Bentara Budaya Jakarta's art curator Ipong Purnomo Sidhi said
\nthe organizer should have been more careful in its claims.<\/p>\n
He added it was a prime case of buyer beware.<\/p>\n
\"Buyers have to think twice before spending millions of
\ndollars on scraps,\" he said. (raw)<\/p>",
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