Hendra's works a big hit at Sydney auction

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne

Although Hendra Gunawan's works celebrating the beauty of ordinary life have fetched handsome prices at an Australian auction, there is a poignant story behind them.

It seems that in every segment of life we cannot avoid the power of trends. In Australia's art circles, the trend of Southeast Asian art is increasingly felt, with Indonesian and Vietnamese paintings now featuring prominently in this country's art auctions.

Chris Deutscher of Deutscher Menzies Auction House observes that interest in Australia for contemporary paintings from Asia in general has been steadily growing.

He was fielding enquiries about Hendra Gunawan's works, Fruitsellers and Women with Betelnut, for some time before the actual auction on Dec. 8-9. He emphasized that these had come from genuine art collectors, not from investment bodies.

On the morning the two paintings were auctioned and eventually sold for A$143,900 each, the suspense in the 250-strong audience was palpable, so much so that each time the auctioneer's hammer went down, there was loud applause to dissolve the tension.

For an Indonesian, it was gratifying to see such tangible appreciation for the works of nationally well-known art icon.

Interestingly, while Dutch artist Willem Gerard Hofker's Bali paintings went to a private Indonesian collector at the same auction, Hendra Gunawan's Fruitsellers and Women with Betelnut were bought by a private Dutch collector.

Coincidentally, like Hofker's works, the previous owner of Hendra's paintings was a military officer too, Brig. Gen. Subroto Kusmardjo, for whom Hendra painted them when he was in prison in 1967. The brigadier general, a keen art connoisseur, was an intelligence officer in the Indonesian Army who regularly visited him.

Hendra -- a painter, sculptor and poet -- was imprisoned because of his perceived close association with LEKRA, the communist-leaning cultural organization in Indonesia under Sukarno's rule.

His passion for promoting populist art to the country's aristocracy, upper bourgeoisie and power elite endeared him to LEKRA, which gave Hendra, then in his early 40s, studio space, along with materials, and what were considered sizable funds for travel at the time.

A crack in the link between Hendra and LEKRA began to appear when, during the political turbulence between 1963 and 1965, LEKRA seemed to become increasingly aggressive in promoting the ideology of "politics as commander".

However, before Hendra had time to take any drastic step to sever the ties, the bloody events of Sept. 30, 1965, led to chaos, and when the dust finally settled with the staunchly anti- Communist Soeharto in power, Hendra, along with many left-leaning personalities, were taken into what proved to be long detention.

In December 1965, Hendra was taken to Cimahi prison, and was later transferred to Kebon Waru prison in Bandung, where he remained for the following 13 years without trial.

The prison authorities, aware of Hendra's artistic talent, vacated a room for him to be used as a studio. It was during this time that he painted Fruitsellers and Women with Betelnut, as well as producing other works which now reside in various galleries and homes of private collectors around the world.

In Kebon Waru he also taught painting to fellow inmates as well as those from the community. He became known as the "painter behind bars", and made genuine friendships with many people from all walks of life, including journalists and some military officers.

In his art, Hendra celebrated ordinary lives -- the lives and activities he saw around him. And in his art, he transcended class distinction.

For instance, instead of focusing on hardship, he saw beauty in the resilience and the capacity for endurance in the women he came across in the marketplace.

It is interesting that even in prison, those images still dominated his psyche -- he still produced such simultaneously gentle and passionate works in adversity, showing his unwavering integrity.

Against this background, A$143,900.00 for each painting at the auction is a fair sum. And in this era where we hear of violence, and see evidence of it beaming at us every day from the television screen, it is hoped that Hendra's works inspire and insinuate some gentle normality into our lives.