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.