Art market 1999: A year filled with auctions

JAKARTA (JP): 1999 was filled with art auctions. While international auction houses Christie's, Sotheby's and Glerum held auctions of Southeast Asian paintings, a large portion of which were Indonesian works, in Singapore, there were also a number of local art auctions.

Many political parties raised money by auctioning works of art. In addition, local auction houses also started to hold auctions this year.

Christie's and Sotheby's Singapore auctions in March and April featured Le Mayeurs, while Glerum offered a number of historical Indonesian art works dating from the 1960s, including a handsome sculpture of a Balinese woman and an exceptional self-portrait by But Mochtar.

In the October auctions in Singapore, a Raden Saleh painting depicting Joseph, Mary and Jesus Christ's flight from Egypt set in a Javanese landscape, including the image of Borobudur temple, sold for S$2.2 million, the second highest price ever paid for a work by an Indonesian artist.

In April, local auction house Balindo started to auction off Indonesian works of art which had been turned over to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) by liquidated banks. Paintings in the auction, which was held without the standard value estimates, started at prices generally much lower than their market value, luring many people into the bidding. The first Balindo/IBRA auction was a success.

Later in the year, Balindo held their own auction, selling art works from art collectors and dealers, as well as holding another auction in association with IBRA. Although not as successful as the first auction, these latter two Balindo auctions did quite well, despite the fact that the auction process left little room for an adequate selection of art works to be sold.

In Irian Jaya, in addition to the annual Asmat art auction in Agats, another auction of tribal art was held in Timika. It seems that from now on, the art work of the region will be marketed through the annual Asmat and Kamoro auctions held consecutively in Agats and Timika.

Auctions also became the main means for local charities, educational institutions and political parties to raise funds this year.

To help victims of violence in Aceh and Ambon, Yayasan Amanah auctioned paintings by A.D. Pirous and Amri Yahya. Also during the event, comedian Dedi Gumelar from the Bagito Group auctioned off personal items belonging to Abdurrahman Wahid and Amien Rais, who at that time had not yet become president and speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, respectively. The event raised around Rp 360 million.

In order to ensure a professional auction, Museum Universitas Pelita Harapan appointed Sotheby's to conduct its fund raising auction. Presenting a fine selection of high-quality works of art, the auction was a rousing success.

1999 was also the year in which the first truly democratic election was held in the country since 1955.

Many political parties chose to hold art auctions as a way to raise funds for their political campaigns. A number of art auctions were held to benefit Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan). The National Mandate Party (PAN) also held an art auction in Jakarta, in which the works of prominent artists who supported the party were sold. The works of Srihadi Soedarsono, Widayat and Dede Eri Supria, among other artists, were sold. Srihadi's painting of a Balinese dancer raised an ample amount of money for the party.

The most interesting auction this year was also an art auction to benefit PAN, this time held in Yogyakarta. The auction offered two paintings, the first a collaboration between party chairman Amien Rais and veteran artist Widayat, and another a work by Widayat himself.

Uncertainty

The number of art auctions occurring in 1999, a year filled with uncertainty, indicates there will be a continuous increase in the number of auctions held and the value of the art works sold in the years to come.

With a more credible and transparent government, there will be greater confidence in the local art market. Even this year, with the country still in an economic crisis, at least a third of the buyers at the Singapore art auctions came from Indonesia. Also, the works being offered at these auctions came mostly from Indonesia.

Therefore, it would make sense for sellers and buyers to come together at auctions in Jakarta rather than in Singapore.

If auctions were conducted in Jakarta, both sellers and buyers would save quite a lot of money, especially for transportation and accommodations. The government would also benefit from the increased number of auctions in Jakarta, as they would be able to apply sales taxes to the works of art purchased.

The auctions could also play a major role in the tourism industry, primarily supporting the hotel and restaurant sectors.

Certainly, there are still many things that need improvement before the art auction business can truly develop. The most important tasks to be done remain in the hands of the government.

The government has to be able to guarantee the right of auction operators to maintain confidentiality regarding the identity of buyers and sellers at auctions. The government should also provide a clear, inexpensive and easy import taxation and reimbursement to allow sellers and buyers to bring art works in and out of the country without too many bureaucratic hassles. It should also maintain a low, final auction sales tax that would benefit the state and at the same time be conducive to competitive bidding.

It will not be long before Singapore auction houses will need to be on the lookout for the emergence of Jakarta as the new art auction capital of the region.

-- Amir Sidharta