Art market 1999: A year filled with auctions

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