Raden Saleh paintings to be auctioned in S'pore<\/p>\n
By Amir Sidharta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The boom in Indonesian art seems far from over.
\nAt the end of the month, four works by Raden Saleh will be
\nauctioned in Singapore. Sotheby's will feature a painting of
\nFighting Animals (ca. 1850), depicting a pair of lions fighting a
\npair of tigers over a horse for an estimate of between S$420,000
\nand $480,000. The second one is a landscape of the Dieng Plateau
\n(1972) at an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000.<\/p>\n
Christie's, on the other hand, is presenting another of the
\n19th century Indonesian master's paintings of lions, namely Lions
\nand a Snake Fighting outside a Grotto in a Tropical Landscape
\n(1839). Although this painting appears very caricatural and less
\nsophisticated compared to the other lion painting, its estimate
\nis much higher, between $800,000 and $1,200,000, due to its
\nlarger size. The fourth painting is The Watermill, a pastoral
\nEuropean landscape. It is estimated at a modest $100,000 to
\n$150,000 because its European subject matter is not so popular in
\nSoutheast Asia.<\/p>\n
The Sotheby's catalog, which became available at the end of
\nlast week, showed some paintings that have appeared in previous
\nauctions. A double-sided drawing of a male nude by Rudolph
\nBonnet, $2,500 to $3,000, was offered at the Glerum May 1995
\nauction in the Netherlands for NG3,500 to NG4,500. Theo Meier's
\nNude by a Pond (1950), $18,000 to $22,000, was offered at
\nGlerum's June 1996 Singapore auction for $30,000 to $40,000. A
\npainting of a young woman by Basoeki Abdullah, which appeared in
\nlast year's Indonesian Fine Arts Foundation auction in Jakarta
\nfor a minimum price of Rp 47 million, is being offered for
\n$18,000 to $20,000. Judging from the lower estimates in this
\nsale, it is clear that the paintings failed to sell in the
\nprevious auctions. It seems that the sellers are lowering the
\nprice of the paintings with hopes of being more successful in the
\nupcoming auction.<\/p>\n
There are also some paintings which were offered at previous
\nauctions for higher prices. A portrait of a European woman,
\nBarbara (1975), was offered for NG5,000 to $7,000 at Glerum's
\nOctober 1992 auction in the Netherlands. It is unclear whether
\nthis painting was sold in that auction, but in this auction it is
\noffered for between S$10,000 and $15,000, approximately twice the
\ninitial offering price.<\/p>\n
The most interesting painting is a luminous landscape by
\nWalter Spies. The painting was first offered at the Glerum June
\n1994 auction in the Netherlands for an estimate of NG180,000 to
\nNG220,000, and sold for a hammer price of NG400,000. Now the
\npainting is being offered again at Sotheby's, and the estimate is
\nonly available upon request. This will certainly be one of the
\nhighlights at the auctions at the end of the month.<\/p>\n
The reappearance of paintings from previous auctions indicates
\nthat despite the fact that the art boom is still going on,
\nauction houses are starting to run short of supply. \"It clearly
\nmeans that the supply is diminishing,\" exclaimed a prominent
\ncollector from Central Java.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that the supply is diminishing. However, the
\nfact that three international auction houses are capitalizing on
\nthe Southeast Asian market, each holding two auctions a year,
\ncertainly makes the situation worse.<\/p>\n
According to some sources, there is even a plan to have three
\nauctions all at once this month, Sotheby's on Saturday morning,
\nMarch, 29, followed by Glerum the same evening, and Christie's
\nthe following morning.<\/p>\n
However, the plan would obviously saturate the market.
\n\"Imagine 500 paintings in one auction!\" said a representative of
\nan auction house. Three auctions at one time would be too much.<\/p>\n
Christie's has held auctions of Southeast Asian paintings in
\nSingapore since 1994. Starting last year, the auction house
\nGlerum entered the regional market by holding its first auction
\nin Singapore in June. In October, Sotheby's followed suit by
\nholding its first auction in the region, exactly the day before
\nChristie's second auction in Singapore that year. Glerum closed
\nthe auction year with their second auction in December.<\/p>\n
Last year's October auctions in Singapore, where over 300
\npaintings were auctioned by Sotheby's and Christie's on two
\nconsecutive days, seemed to have exhausted collectors' stamina as
\nwell as funds. Three auctions at one time certainly would cause
\nat least one auction house, or even all three, to suffer.<\/p>\n
The competition among the three companies seemed to be
\ncomplicated by the news that R.O.B. Mulder, Sotheby's auction
\nmaster in their Singapore sale last October, left Sotheby's, and
\njoined Glerum Auctioneers. Meanwhile, Miety T. Heiden, previously
\nGlerum's expert in Southeast Asian art, joined Sotheby's.<\/p>\n
Completely unrelated to the departure of Mulder, Sotheby's is
\nbecoming a target of a couple of exposes. Major scandals
\ninvolving the auction house are revealed in the newly published
\nSotheby's Inside Story by Peter Watson, while Robert Lacey's
\nSotheby's: Bidding for Class is expected to appear next year.<\/p>\n
It is perhaps time for young talented professionals from the
\nregion to emerge and take on positions which have traditionally
\nbeen held exclusively by Europeans or those of European descent.<\/p>\n
The shake-up at Sotheby's will apparently make way for Quek
\nChin Yeow, a director at Sotheby's and Sotheby's expert in
\nSoutheast Asian Art, to replace Mulder's decorated position as
\nauction master. This young Singaporean was auctioneer for a
\nnumber of charity events in the region, including a record-
\nbreaking sale of Wu Guanzhong's works in Jakarta last October.<\/p>\n
He was also instrumental in placing a painting by Hendra
\nGunawan on the cover of Sotheby's October sale in Singapore.
\nTraditionally, auction houses have only dared to present
\npaintings by European masters, which have been dubbed as
\n\"Beautiful Indies\" images by the pioneer of modern Indonesian
\npainting, S. Sudjojono, on their catalogs of Southeast Asian
\npaintings. The only exception was a traditional Balinese painting
\nwhich was featured on a Christie's Amsterdam auction catalog.<\/p>\n
Sotheby's Amsterdam auction catalog last year featured a
\nportrait of a European girl by Raden Saleh. Its level of
\ncommitment to the promotion of Indonesian painting seems to be
\nindicated by their decision to feature the Raden Saleh and the
\nHendra Gunawan on their catalog covers. They have also included
\nmore works by Indonesian artists compared to the other auction
\nhouses. In the upcoming auction they will feature an impressive
\nwork by I Wayan Cahya, a little-known young Indonesian painter
\nwho studied at the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta.
\nHopefully, Quek will further influence Sotheby's commitment to
\npromoting Indonesian art by featuring more high quality
\ncontemporary Indonesian paintings.<\/p>\n
A close observer of the Indonesian art market disagrees.
\n\"Promoting contemporary art should be done by the galleries.
\nAuction houses should avoid taking business from galleries,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
However, whether the activities of auction houses are hurting
\nthe businesses of galleries still needs to be proven. If
\nanything, auctions have become the best indicator of market
\nprices of art. Now, art dealers and buyers alike gauge Indonesian
\npainting prices based on auction results.<\/p>\n
If Christie's, Sotheby's and Glerum would like to see long
\nterm development of the regional art market, they need to make a
\ncommitment to nurture professionalism in the region. They should
\nabandon the prejudiced approaches they have employed in the past
\nin judging the authenticity and legality of art works and learn
\nto respect the judgment of regional experts about art, especially
\nsince far too many fakes and questionable paintings from various
\nparts of the world have appeared on the market. It is no longer
\nwise to think that paintings which come from Europe are less
\nlikely to be fake, as some experts of these auction houses have
\nsuggested. There are forgers around the world, and new booming
\nart markets where scholarship of the art is still in its infancy
\nseem to be the prime target for their products.<\/p>",
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