Going, going, gone for the masters' works
By Amir Sidharta
JAKARTA (JP): The auction scene continues to be the main indicator of the Indonesian art boom. Sotheby's and Christie's had their art auctions in Singapore in March, featuring four works by the 19th century Indonesian artist Raden Saleh.
Both auctions saw a general trend in that most of the paintings with Indonesian subjects sold rather poorly, except for a few extraordinary pieces which fetched high prices.
At Sotheby's sale, Lee Man Fong's Bali Life, which was placed on the cover of the catalog, failed to sell.
However, a fabulous landscape by Walter Spies broke another record for the Russian-born German artist's works, being sold at a hammer price of S$1 million.
A work by the 19th century painter Raden Saleh, Fighting Animals, was sold for S$700,000, well over its estimate, to a phone bidder from Indonesia.
The highlight of Christie's sale the next day was certainly Raden Saleh's Lion and Snake Fighting Outside a Grotto in a Tropical Landscape, sold at the hammer price of S$1.8 million.
In Christie's auction during the same auction season last year, Raden Saleh's Deer Hunt set a record price of S$2.8 million.
The artist's painting of a European Water-Mill was sold for a modest S$80,000. In this sale, Spies' Animal Fable also sold for S$750,000.
In Amsterdam in April, the auctions of Indonesian paintings showed that interest in Indonesian paintings continued to level out and stabilize.
The Van Lier auction shows that Indonesian tribal art is gaining strong interest, particularly from dealers or private collectors in Europe and the United States.
Local auctions included the Indonesian Art Foundation's third Indonesian Art Bourse in May.
Following a tremendously successful sale reaching Rp 2.6 billion the previous year, this year's sales only managed to sell a little over 50 percent of the total number of paintings, drawing about Rp 1.45 billion in revenue.
The highlights included the sale of Srihadi Soedarsono's Menunggu Upacara (Waiting for the Ceremony) for Rp 84 million, Sri Warso Wahono's Wanita Berkain Sutra (Woman in Silk Sarong) for Rp 43 million, and Hardi's Pak Harto Nabuh Bedug (Pak Harto Beats the Drum) for Rp 35 million.
During the one-day exhibition in August of the works by noted ceramic artist Adi Munardi, an auction was conducted for the charitable benefits.
Record
The AIDS foundation held its auction in October at the Grand Hyatt, which continued at the Shangri-La.
After 50 out of 80 paintings were sold at the Grand Hyatt, seven of the best pieces were auctioned.
Srihadi's Doa dan Harapan (Prayers and Hope), listed at Rp 85 million, sold for Rp 100 million, while the other six paintings did not exceed much further than the submitted bids.
Amid the currency crisis and the problem of haze smothering the region, a series of not two but three auctions of Southeast Asian paintings were once again held in Singapore over three consecutive days at the end of September.
Sotheby's offered 261 paintings, Christie's 318, and Glerum 361, brings the total of art works to a record 940 in a single auction season; 550 of which were Indonesian in subject matter.
The highlights of Sotheby's auction included the sale of a work by Walter Spies at a hammer price of S$850,000. A mediocre painting of a Legong dancer by Dullah, estimated at S$20,000 to S$25,000, was finally sold at S$78,000 to an English woman after a fierce battle with an American.
The surprise at Christie's was the sale of the Sudjojono cover piece, which attracted a record S$110,000, or well over five times its estimate of S$15,000 to S$20,000.
Glerum's highlights included the sale of Isaac Israels' paintings. The artist's portrait of R. M. Djodjana fetched a surprising S$220,000, while another painting of a gamelan managed to reach an astronomical price of S$300,000.
The greatest surprise at Glerum was the sale of Lee Man Fong's Man with a Cockerel and a Child, which fetched an unbelievable S$240,000. Many thought that this was the craziest purchase of the auction season.
Glerum boasted a result of S$4.2 million, Sotheby's booked sales of S$3.7 million, while Christie's reported a modest S$3.4 million, bringing the season total to a mere S$11.3 million for almost 1,000 paintings, just a little above Christie's March 1995 sale, which only offered 170 paintings.
This was a clear indication that the boom was leveling out.
In December, the intrepid Glerum held another sale, this time of works by contemporary Indonesian artists.
Although the auctioneer's efforts in promoting Indonesian art deserves commendation, his selection of works is rather weak and the sale ill-timed. Yet, the low prices of the works manages to attract Singaporean buyers.
The auctions, whether they be in Amsterdam, Singapore, or Jakarta, indicate a saturation of the market. As a residue of the art boom, the amount of paintings appearing on the market increases, while prices are dropping.