200 join auction on frozen banks' paintings
JAKARTA (JP): About 200 people packed the auditorium of Plaza Mandiri in South Jakarta on Saturday participating in an auction of over 145 paintings and dozens of other art works seized by the government from 20 closed-down banks.
The crowd included businessmen, expatriates and art gallery owners.
Running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the auction organized by PT Balindo at closing had recorded Rp 1.2 billion (US$152,000), which is about half of the expected total.
Kapal Kusamba (Kusamba Boat), a 1980 masterpiece of the late Affandi, one of the country's celebrated painters, recorded the highest price in the bidding at Rp 94 million.
The bidding opened at Rp 80 million, and the oil painting was bought by an unidentified businessman in his 40s.
The same buyer also spent another Rp 50 million on three other paintings: Gadis Kelambu Hitam (Girl in Black Curtain) by Pupuk DP, Pantai (Beach) by Nasjah Djamin and Panen (Harvest).
The event organizer did not identify the buyer, for ethical reasons.
Two paintings by noted Balinese painter Nyoman Gunarsa -- both entitled Penari (dancers) -- were sold for Rp 48 million and Rp 20 million respectively.
Some of the goods were sold for two or three times the opening prices.
A miniature replica of the Dewarutji vessel, for example, was sold for Rp 10 million after being initially priced at Rp 3 million.
The organizers did not reveal the names of the 20 banks the items were originally from.
Balindo's managing director Gunawan said the opening prices of the 145 paintings ranged between Rp 1.75 million and Rp 80 million.
"Some of them were even sold below the opening price, while the other were sold above it. It depends on the buyers," Gunawan said.
A German art collector who owns a painting gallery in South Jakarta said that the paintings generally were sold below expected prices, saying that the price of the Affandis painting could reach Rp 110 million.
"But most of the buyers have a low appreciation of art. They, for example, just bought Gunarsa's paintings for the status," the man, who asked for anonymity, told The Jakarta Post.
Another painting collector, M. Sihombing, also shared the view, saying that 80 percent of the buyers had no knowledge of art.
"They might be educated people, but know nothing about art," Sihombing said.
He said he hoped the auction reflected the recovery of Indonesia's economy.
He said the buyers are probably businesspeople, and could be just buying the items as investments.
"Before the economic crisis, Affandi's Kapal Kusamba could have the price of between Rp 400 million and Rp 500 million," he said.
Besides the works of Affandi and Gunarsa, other paintings by well known painters such as Sri Hady, Made Wianta and Jeihan S were also sold during the auction.
Last year, the government liquidated dozens of privately owned banks for violating banking regulations. The banks' properties, such as vehicles, paintings and office equipment, have been seized and auctioned. (jun)