Art theft and forgery plaguing Indonesian art market
Art theft and forgery plaguing Indonesian art market
By Amir Sidharta
JAKARTA (JP): Last week, the art community in Jakarta was
shocked by the news of an attempt to steal a painting from the
collection of the Jakarta Council for the Arts.
The painting by Hendra Gunawan apparently was taken out of its
original frame, folded, and prepared to be taken away.
Strangely, the painting was later returned to the council,
although some painters believe that the returned painting is a
forgery. Not even the council's main curator, Sri Warso Wahono,
has been able to determine if the painting is authentic.
The incident brings to our attention two points. Firstly,
the commercial value of paintings in demand is increasing at an
amazing pace. Like anything of value, art has become a target of
criminal activity.
An extraordinary Hendra Gunawan fetched a hammer price of
S$220,000 at Sotheby's auction in Singapore last October, placing
paintings by this Indonesian master in the spotlight.
Secondly, the art world needs new techniques to anticipate and
prevent robberies. Better security systems will help, but the
measures need to go beyond technology. Better knowledge about art
is crucial.
Forgery is also a problem. If curators are not capable of
detecting fakes, what can be expected from police without any
training in art? Curators and police should organize workshops to
increase their knowledge about art.
It is not clear exactly when fake paintings started floating
around in Indonesia, but some collectors recall fakes having been
around since the 1950s. A Jakarta art dealer said that Trubus, a
noted Indonesian master, once produced paintings in the manner of
Antonio Blanco, when paintings by the Manila-born artist (now
residing in Bali) were at their peak in commercial value.
The art dealer said that one of these paintings was included
in Christie's last Singapore auction. "The painting is actually
better than Blanco's. It's too bad that Trubus did not just sign
his name on it," he said.
Many fakes have emerged on the Indonesian market due to a
recent art boom. Questionable works by Walter Spies, Le Mayeur,
Raden Saleh, Widayat and Lee Man Fong have been floating around
and offered to many collectors. Many of these fakes indicate the
mastery of the forgers' painting abilities. Others are of lesser
quality, and can easily be detected as fakes.
Several amateur dealers have tried to offer low quality fakes
of Hofkers, though these paintings are usually so poorly executed
as to be embarrassing.
Painting forgeries have become more common since auctions
started to take place in Singapore. Even in the first of these
art auctions, Christie's March 1994 auction of Southeast Asian
paintings, at least one painting was thought to be a fake.
At that time, Bonnet's painting, which was in Agung Rai's
collection, was forged. Luckily Agung Rai also noticed the
forgery in the catalog, and immediately asked that the painting
be withdrawn.
Many other alleged fakes have appeared at auction in
Singapore, including the Sotheby's and Glerum auctions. Trubus
and Hendra Gunawan are among the painters whose works have most
often have been faked and appeared at auction. The very dealer
who commissioned Trubus to make Blanco fakes asked another artist
to copy Trubus's paintings when his paintings became popular.
More recently, fakes of Sudarso and Achmad Sadali have also
emerged in Singapore.
Some of the paintings to be offered at the Glerum auction next
week are thought to be fakes. A painting by Le Mayeur of two
women weaving shows great likeness to another painting sold in
Christie's March 1995 auction, and is now in the collection of a
prominent collector.
From the image in the catalog, the painting offered by Glerum
shows that it was executed using short, deliberate brush strokes,
building up modulations of volume using an accumulation of color.
Meanwhile, Le Mayeur's brushstrokes seem much more confidently
applied. A third version of the same painting, also thought to be
a fake, is known to be in the collection of another important
collector.
The Raden Saleh painting B.J. Momma in the Glerum auction is
also questionable. The anatomy of the subject matter's face seems
awkward. Most notably, one of the military officer's eyes is
painted much higher than the other. The hands of the figure are
handled in a sloppy manner. The fingers, from index finger to
little finger, disproportionately diminish in scale. The
background of the painting is even left untreated.
Overall, the painting seems to be handled much less carefully
than other paintings by the Indonesian painter. Raden Saleh was
known to pay meticulous attention to detail.
There is no doubt that the central figure in the painting of
Rangda in the auction catalog is handled in the manner of
Balinese painter Nyoman Meja. However, the background is handled
in a way that does not seem to be characteristic of Meja or any
other Balinese painter. In this painting, the Rangda is very
distinctly delineated, in contrast to the almost bare and dark
background. Steps of a stage fill the dark background.
By contrast, Meja's figures are usually much more subtly
rendered. While his darkened backgrounds bring out and highlight
the central figures in his paintings, they are very much an
integral part of the entire depiction. Meja's paintings are
always filled with various objects, including the ornaments of
the stage, musicians in the background and even the farmer
passing by in the distant background.
The painting in the Glerum auction is not consistent with the
painter's style. Meja himself denied that the painting was his
when he saw the auction catalog at the residence of art observer
Agus Dermawan last weekend.
Sudarso, one of Indonesia's pioneer painters, questions one
particular painting by Lee Man Fong called Balinese semi nude.
"Just look at it, the face is handled so clumsily," he said.
Other art observers have also pointed out that some other Lee Man
Fongs seem weak and likely to be fakes.
Painter Sudarso confirms that his own paintings in the catalog
are originals. He even remembered that the one dating from 1949
was painted in Bali.
A renowned Indonesian collector based in Central Java insists
that the Widayat in the Glerum auction is also a fake. "Widayat's
treatment of colors is richer," he said. Agus Dermawan remembers
that this painting, or one very similar to it, was given along
with another painting as a gift to Ipong Purnama Sidi of the
Bentara Budaya and himself. However, in the end Ipong got this
painting while he received the other painting. If this painting
has inscribed on the back Untuk Agus (For Agus), then it is
likely that the painting is an original.
Many art observers claim that the Trubus in the auction is a
fake. An Indonesian art consultant for an international auction
house says that sometimes the auction house's experts reject his
claim that certain paintings are fakes. Of course, those experts
feel that they know more about art. "We tend to base our
assumptions according to feeling, while they claim to base their
judgment upon references," he said.
Auction houses first try to verify authenticity using more
technical processes and double check the matter with art
conservators and consultants. With the emergence of forgeries,
and the lack of art experts in the country, it seems too easy for
people to claim that certain paintings are fakes.
However, auction houses cannot afford not to take the advice
of respectable art consultants and critics. Within a limited
period of time, if someone can prove that a painting bought at
auction is fake, then the auction houses tend to offer a refund.
But it is difficult to retrieve the money paid to a seller. If
that is the case, then the auction house is stuck with a painting
that is likely to be a fake.
"What we need is true expertise about art." says painter
Sudarso. "We need experts who can tell the good works from the
rest, and the originals from the fakes!"
It is clear that there is a scarcity of experts in Indonesia-
related art. Unless innovative and progressive measures are taken
in anticipating the boom in Indonesia-related art, than the
emerging art business in Indonesia will be infested with art
crime.