Art forgeries also flourish in paradise island

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Five to eight paintings portraying Balinese dancers can be found in a mini-theater room of a famous cafe in Ubud. A brief look at the paintings - the spontaneous strokes, the composition, the color choice and the frames - may instantly give you the impression they are the works of one of Bali's famous painters I Nyoman Gunarsa.

Upon closer observation, however, you may realize that they are indeed imitations of Gunarsa's works by Padma, a repainter whose name is only vaguely affixed on these paintings. While a genuine Gunarsa painting is sold at Rp 30 million, a Gunarsa look-alike painting is obtainable at between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.5 million, for a canvas measuring 100 cm x 120 cm.

Apart from imitations of Gunarsa's works, there are also other imitations - paintings and sketches - of the works of, for example Kriyono, Arie Smit, Han Snel, Sumadiyasa and Made Wianta. These imitations can be easily found at small art shops - 5m x 10 m on average - along Jl. Raya Ubud. In these small rooms, the paintings are simply piled up or lean against the wall.

Here you can also find imitations of Gunarsa's water-color sketches of pretty dancers made by, if it is correctly read, Made Yasa, a name which is of little importance as it may always be a pseudonym. Usually, the art-shop keepers, claiming to be the owners, prefer to be tightlipped about details of these repainters, who leave their works on a consignment basis.

Let's now move a little farther away to the coast at Tanah Lot, Tabanan, some 30 km to the west of here. Following the flourishing of tourism and art shops in the area, some self-made painters have made this place their permanent residence. Take Nyoman Boko, for example. He puts on display his paintings of animals in striking primary colors in his small shop, measuring 1.5 m x 2 m. Rather surprisingly, The Jakarta Post found paintings of women resembling those by the late Kay It Tenaya. Each could be obtained at Rp 600,000.

You can find in these paintings semi-realist drawings of the body of a woman with thick lips covered with red lipstick and hair arranged in a bun in a style unique to a Balinese woman, all producing a sensual yet traditional impression identifiable as the characteristics of Kay It's works. These imitations bear the name of Kamajaya, about whom, unfortunately, Boko preferred to say very little.

The fact that it is quite easy to find imitations of paintings by noted artists means that there are skilled persons capable of imitating, and if necessary, forging paintings by famous artists. "Perhaps only one person makes the imitations of the paintings of Kriyono or Han Snel and this person signs the imitations differently," said the owner of a gallery in Sanur.

That's why serious collectors usually avoid buying paintings in a gallery whose vision and identity are vague. "I prefer to visit an artist's home or studio to avoid buying forged paintings," said a collector, who preferred anonymity. If he cannot find any paintings to his liking, he may visit reliable and reputable galleries.

Genuine

Indeed, the best way to ensure that you get a genuine painting is to visit the studio of an artist. But what should be done in the case of a dead artist? Art dealer Jais Hadiana Dargawidjaja also owns Darga Gallery Denpasar and Lansberg Gallery in Paris and has often served as a middleman for the works by noted artists like Hendra Gunawan or foreign painters like Marc Chagall or Chu Teh Chun. He said that he examined the originality of a painting in an extraordinarily meticulous way.

The first thing he will check will be the certificate of the identity of the painting and the artist, a document usually published by the artist's manager or a foundation taking care of non-profit information about the artist. Every artist usually has their own characteristics, such as canvas types, the space for their signature and highly specific matters known only to the members of their family.

"It is important to learn these characteristics because even a certificate can be forged," said Jais Hadiana Dargawidjaja. In some cases, however, he has even felt it necessary to invite other artists who may be quite knowledgeable about the characteristics of a painter although he has got the certificate and is familiar with this particular painter's characteristics.

Hendra Gunawan, for example, generally used a rather darkened canvas and his other unique strength, deemed too difficult to imitate, was his impressive spontaneity in portraying human beings moving, with the minimum of details.

"Sometimes, there are even artists doubting, in several respects, a painting with a clear identity as set forth in the certificate. It may happen that one artist is doubtful about the originality of a painting but that another believes the painting to be genuine. After receiving this input, we may decide whether to buy the painting or not. If we are still in doubt, we'd rather cancel the transaction," Jais said.

Gunarsa

Rumors have long been around about forgery of the works of famous artists. In Bali, particularly, and in Indonesia in general, perhaps, the necessary infrastructure is yet to be firmly established to be able to cover these problems. There is yet to be jurisprudence about art forgery in Indonesia. In Bali, the case of Nyoman Gunarsa may give us some hope. Paintings resembling genuine Gunarsa's works have for the past few years decorated a number of galleries, restaurants, hotels or small cafes at Bali's tourism centers.

Not until early 2000, however, did Indrawati, Nyoman Gunarsa's wife, admit she came across a painting resembling one of his on display at a gallery here, owned by Sinyo aka Hendra Dinata.

Gunarsa reported this case to Gianyar police and the complaint was later passed on to Bali regional police. So, mid-2000 marked the beginning of a dispute between Gunarsa and Sinyo. Sinyo, in his turn, reported Indrawati to the police, alleging that she tarnished Sinyo's reputation and inconvenienced him. In a later development of this case, a gallery owner, Suwita, was also implicated.

Gunarsa reported him to Bali regional police, accusing him of tarnishing his reputation following Suwita's press conference and claimed that he was Gunarsa's legal consultant, who got a painting from Gunarsa, who was then broke, instead of cash. Later Suwita reported Nyoman Gunarsa, alleging him of siphoning off a painting by I Ridi, an artist from the Young Artists Group. Truly a confusing case.

Even at present, in early 2001, the investigation process is yet to be completed. To find out whether the paintings in Sinyo Gallery are genuine or not is indeed no easy job. Nyoman Gunarsa may always allege that his works have been forged but there are facts which are difficult to deny.

A number of these paintings have found their way to Hendra Dinata through reputable people. An army colonel, Sitorus, formerly head of the intelligence service of the Bali regional police, reportedly sold this painting, which Gunarsa had presented to him as a gift. As for the other painting, Hendra Dinata said it was obtained from Jiwa Atmaja -- former chief editor of Bali News tabloid, in which Gunarsa controls the majority of the shares.

Jiwa, in his turn said he had obtained the painting from Gunarsa himself as a gift. The others, among others, have been obtained through Suwita and Sugara, who each have a gallery in Ubud. About this case, however, Gunarsa is convinced that some of his works decorating Sinyo Gallery are counterfeits.

He regretted that there are artists, while admiring the style of his works, who have imitated his technique and style. One secret admirer of his painting style has not only imitated the pallet technique and the characteristic brush strokes of Gunarsa, but he has also stolen the themes such as Aringgit, Movement in Space, Bali Dancers and many others.

Then the imitation also includes the color choice, the frame models as well as the special varnish to be applied to the frame. Understandably, as soon as his wife came across a fake Gunarsa painting at Sinyo Gallery, they were infuriated and reported this forgery to the police.

This case is still pending at Bali regional police. Sinyo is yet to be put on trial. Meanwhile, Gunarsa is facing a stronger counter-attack. Suwita, the owner of Sinyo Gallery allegedly involved in the distribution of fake Gunarsa paintings, seized upon a chance to unleash his attack on Gunarsa through the case of I Ridi's painting. It so happened that a painting in the style of Young Artists of Penestanan, made by I Ridi, was left in the care of Nyoman Gunarsa after it had been put on display for some time at Sandhu Gallery in Singapore. Gunarsa was then making a visit to Singapore. After some time, though, Gunarsa did not hand over the painting to Suwita - both were on bad terms because of their disputes --. Instead, he left it in the care of Putu Gede Jaya, an art collector and a businessman involved in the mega project of PT Bali Pecatu Graha, at present owned by Tommy Soeharto, in Bali.

As he had not been given the painting by I Ridi, Suwita reported this matter to the police, alleging that Gunarsa had siphoned off I Ridi's painting. Surprisingly, Gunarsa has been made a suspect in this case, while the dispute between Gunarsa and Sinyo is yet to show signs of abating.

Seeing the complication of an art forgery case that Nyoman Gunarsa is facing, many other artists, whose works have been faked, think many times before finally resorting to the legal channel. "A case like this will only fatten the pockets of legal attorneys and the law-enforcing apparatus. Is it possible for people in Indonesia to get justice free of charge? I'd better continue painting and managing my works well," said one artist, who preferred anonymity.

Attitude

This a-priori attitude towards law enforcement was actually shown long before the case of Nyoman Gunarsa. Made Wianta, for example, said he did not want to bother himself with the counterfeiters although his geometric-pointillistic works are very easy to imitate. "We will only waste time and cannot relax if we let this case be heard in a court of law. Let them go ahead with their forgery. Just consider this as sharing good fortune with them," he said one day.

Nyoman Erawan, saying he has never heard of anybody forging his works, said that collectors have to be really careful when buying paintings. "Consult a number of experts. The more experts you consult, the smaller are your chances of buying a fake," he noted.

Despite many artists' pessimism about proving the forgery of a painting, let alone about taking this matter to the court, the owner of Neka Museum, Pande Wayan Suteja Neka, has responded positvely to Gunarsa's use of legal channels to deal with the alleged forgery of his works.

"This is a breakthrough to remind the community and make them aware that it is important to respect the copyright of an artist. Of course, a certification system is needed to reduce the likelihood of forgery," he said, giving an example of how Neka Gallery, which manages Arie Smit's paintings, issues certificates for his works.

"Certificates can easily be forged, so to make it difficult to fake our certificates, we use an old typing machine, the character fonts of which are now very hard to find," he said.

Many young artists are getting ready to face counterfeiters.

"The simplest thing to do is that every artist must have a photograph of each of their works and then sign the certificates of these works with an authentic signature," said Jais Hadiana Dargawidjaja, the owner of Darga Gallery in Sanur. If a painter cannot take care of this matter alone, he may team up with a gallery or appoint a manager. Unfortunately, many artists do not take care about their works being faked. "Are my works worth imitating? They are not yet best-sellers," they will say, shyly. True enough, the counterfeiters or the repainters eye only the works of best-selling artists like Nyoman Gunarsa, Made Wianta, Kriyono, Arie Smit, Han Snel, Antonio Blanco or even Made Sumadiyasa.