Hofker's Bali paintings make their way back home
Pragmatic parents often advise their artistically-inclined offspring to equip themselves with other skills since they cannot live on art alone.
There is no money in art, they say.
That may be the truth, but certainly not the whole truth. Go to a successful art auction and you will see the affluence that art attracts.
A recent two-day auction by Australia's Deutscher Menzies in Sydney sold 14 paintings for a total of A$6.5 million. Four of those paintings have strong Indonesian connections.
Two paintings of Balinese women by Willem Gerard Hofker went to a private Indonesian collector, for A$155,950 and A$108,000 respectively,
Chris Deutscher of Deutscher Menzies Auction House had indeed predicted that they would sell for over A$100,000 when he saw them among a collection of artworks then owned by a family in New South Wales.
An urgent need for cash prompted the family to contact Deutscher to assess their art collection, having very little idea of their monetary worth. Upon discovering the two Hofker paintings, Deutscher told them that they had highly valuable treasures in their possession.
Hofker had in 1945 sold his works directly to then General Sir Thomas Blamey, commander-in-chief of both the Australian Military Forces and Allied Land Forces in the Southwest Pacific. And it was the Blamey family who sold the two paintings.
How Hofker, eager to sell his works, came to sell them in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, is a story in itself.
Hofker was born on May 3, 1902, the son of a high-ranking civil servant in The Hague. The family recognized their son's artistic talent very early in life and sent him to art school in The Hague, then to the Amsterdam Academy of Arts.
After his graduation in 1924, he quickly gained recognition as an artist after winning second prize in the Prix de Rome.
It was in the country's artistic circles that he met Maria, the daughter of another well-known artist, Willem Reuter, who became his wife.
Hofker's reputation landed him an invitation from the Royal Dutch Sealines Company (KPM) to paint a portrait of Queen Wilhelmina, then to present it personally to their office in Batavia. Despite not being particularly fond of traveling, Hofker accepted and with Maria embarked on the long voyage to the Dutch East Indies.
Hofker had read up about the colony and was then looking forward to seeing the place. After the presentation Hofker and Maria took a tour of Java, but they did not go far before Hofker fell ill and was forced to return to Batavia.
After the recovery, Hofker, taken by the beauty of Javanese women, wished to paint them. Unfortunately none would pose for him. Having heard of Walter Spies, Rudolf Bonnet and other European artists living in Bali, Hofker decided to visit the island.
Bali was pivotal in his artistic life. He produced numerous pastels of Balinese women, in vibrantly colored dancing costumes, or in ordinary scenes, such as weaving and resting. He was fascinated by their sensuous yet unselfconscious beauty.
Hofker and Maria's idyllic life in Bali came to an abrupt end when World War II broke out. In December 1941, Hofker was conscripted, together with his friend and fellow artist Bonnet, for military service with the Royal Netherlands Indies Army, known by its acronym KNIL.
A year later, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hofker, Maria and Bonnet were arrested and thrown into prison in Denpasar, where Hofker managed to continue painting.
Fortunately for him the Japanese, keen to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, organized Balinese art exhibitions by commissioning some Balinese artists, and noticed Hofker's artistic talent. They subsequently released him, together with Maria and Bonnet.
It was but a brief relief because in December 1943 Hofker and Maria were transported to detention camps in Sulawesi, where they encountered endless hardships. Hofker nearly died of starvation, and his paintings -- over one hundred of them -- which he had given to Maria, were destroyed when a war base near the women's camp was bombed.
They were eventually released; Hofker and Maria tried to rebuild their lives in the newly independent Indonesia without much success.
In the meantime the Dutch, still trying to regain power, offered its citizens who were still in Indonesia the choice of joining the military or returning to Holland. Hofker strongly refused to fight against people he regarded as his friends, and did not even wait for the repatriation which would take some time.
It was then that he approached Sir Thomas Blamey's company in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, and offered his paintings for sale, which Sir Thomas promptly bought.
Hofker and Maria then spent the rest of their lives back in their homeland, with the artist continuing to produce images of Bali from his memory.
We may never know how much Hofker received for his paintings in 1945, but he would surely be pleased to know that they are now among top-priced Indonesian artworks.
-- Dewi Anggraeni