Indonesia -- The land of fine art forgery?

Indonesia -- The land of fine art forgery?

By Agus Dermawan T

JAKARTA (JP): Still remember the scandalous exhibition and
cancelled auction of alleged painting forgeries called The Old
Painting Pre-World War II held in Jakarta in November 2000?

This scandal was one of the world's most pathetic fine art
events. The category of world scale is justifiable as upon
closer observation this case of alleged painting forgery,
exhibition and sales is considered the largest in our modern era.
In other countries, forged paintings are usually inserted,
deliberately or otherwise, between original paintings.

In Indonesia, in the scandal referred to earlier, over 100
alleged counterfeit paintings were displayed openly and
simultaneously at a specific event preceded by a ceremony.

Undeniably, this has earned Indonesia the label of a country
where paintings are forged. It really hurts to hear this label
frequently mentioned by art observers from many countries. A
number of international exhibition and auction offices have said
that paintings from Indonesia are the most difficult to select in
South-East Asia, or even the whole of Asia. This has prompted the
bureaus to start making calculations.

For a twice-yearly auction event, an auction house receives
about 500 - 600 paintings to select. No less than half of these
paintings are forgeries. Ultimately only about 150 original
paintings will be included on the lot lease.

Please note, that this is the number registered in one bureau
alone. As for the hundreds of forged paintings, they are only the
number registered as prospective auction entries. Then there are
some more counterfeit paintings offered door-to-door, without any
official institution trying to cheat people.

Therefore, in order to avoid misleading anyone, a bureau like
Sotheby's will provide a note in the auction catalog through the
Article on Absence of Guarantee of Authenticity. The implication
is that a bureau has tried its best to select the paintings but
cannot fully guarantee the authenticity of the works.

In the case of an auction, a complaint about the counterfeit
status of a painting may be lodged, along with supporting
evidence, within 21 days of the auction. Just like Christie's and
Glerum, if the complaint proves correct, the administrative and
financial consequences will have to be quickly sorted out.

Signature

It seems that paintings by Hendra Gunawan, Basoeki Abdullah,
S. Sudjojono, Trubus and Arie Smit are usually most frequently
subject to forgery. Following them are the works of Lee Man-fong,
Affandi, Anton Kustiawijaya and Popo Iskandar. In the next rank
come, though only once in a while, the paintings of Jeihan,
Kartono Yudhokusumo, Widayat, Djoko Pekik and Srihadi Soedarsono.

The works of foreign painters most often forged are those by
W.G. Hofker, Rudolf Bonnet, Le Mayeur and, only rarely, the
paintings by Auke Sonnega and Roland Strasser. It does not take
much guesswork to realism that these painters are popular with
painting counterfeiters due to price and market factors.

Obviously, the genuine work of the painters referred to above
is marketable at very high prices.

Observation shows that forged paintings are usually offered to
novice art collectors, art buffs who are too lazy to learn about
the subject or those who believe they are really knowledgeable in
art matters. Art forgers will also find as easy targets, careless
art enthusiasts and art lovers primarily concerned about the
prestige value of the works they acquire.

It must be remembered that only paintings with an
extraordinary level of prestige are generally selected for
forgery. Painting counterfeiters will also prey upon art dealers
selling paintings not as the first owners or those being hand-in-
glove with a syndicate selling counterfeit works.

It is obvious to the public that a counterfeit painting is one
not created by the artist whose name is signed on the painting.
Pictorially, a forged painting is an exact copy of a particular
painting or one which imitates the art style of a particular
painter. It may be concluded that the signature of a painter is
the key to determine whether his painting is original or not. It
follows that a painting created as an imitation of the work of
another painter but bearing the signature of the imitating
painter will be put in the category of "original painting" with a
non-original idea.

Imitating by means of reproducing actually needs a special
skill which needs to be learnt. In European and US fine art
schools, reproduction is given as an academic subject. Fine art
students will be asked to reproduce masterpieces from various
museums. This training will give the students a skill. It is with
this skill that the students will be encouraged to find their own
identity by producing works with personal characteristics.

Not everyone can find themselves, though. Some stop as experts
in art reproduction or as a repainter. In the traditional art
world in Bali, for example, a painter who can no longer make any
progress will turn himself into a craftsman. But an expert in art
reproduction with a criminal bent will turn himself into an art
forger, a "profession' now denounced as that of a criminal.

As for the repainters, the world has a good record of them,
some being even written about in golden ink. In Paris, Antonio
Bin received in 1980 an order to repaint Mona Lisa by Leonardo da
Vinci 300 times for a span of five years. On the repainting of
Mona Lisa, which could fetch a price of up to US$ 1,700 apiece,
Bin proudly writes: Mona Lisa by Antonio Bin, the repainter, with
respect to Leonardo da Vinci. Christie's has even conducted a
special auction of the paintings made by followers and
repainters. Called Copies After Old master Pictures, the auction
was held in Amsterdam. It enjoyed an enthusiastic welcome from
the public. The work of Theo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926), who
imitated the painting of Diego Velazquez, was sold at over 20,000
Dutch guilders. So, obviously a repainter need not always turn
into an art counterfeiter.

The Story of "Le Musee"

Fondazione dei Falsi d'Autore, a foundation managing
repainters, was set up in Italy in 1984. The foundation, led by
Prof. Daniele Ermes Donde, brings repainters together and gears
them towards repainting art masterpieces. After some time, these
repainters will specialize in certain painters only. Davide
Bricchi, for example, is a repainter for Van Gogh's works. Sergio
Uchi and Sabato Ariente is highly skilled at repainting the works
of Auguste Renoir, Edouard Monet and other impressionists. Robert
Thestor is known to be a repainter of classical paintings such as
those created by Rembrandt and Jan van Eyck. Others repaint the
works of Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Picasso and so forth.

This foundation has moved a number of sponsors, like Yolanda
Kramer and Guide Businger, who later set up Le Musee Imaginaire,
an institution exhibiting and marketing repainted works
throughout the world. The work of this institution has earned a
warm welcome from the public. World celebrities like Elizabeth
Taylor, Roger Moore, Arnold Schwarzenegger and even the royal
Monaco family have hung their works at some place in their homes.
A Le Musee certificate will be issued as a reminder that
"although the work is an imitation, still, it inspires pride."

Some of these repainters have visited Indonesia. They held an
exhibition of their repainting works at the Hilton Hotel. A
number of ministers went to this exhibition, which was considered
a pleasing interlude. A few years later, a gallery in South
Jakarta held an exhibition of their works and received a good
response.

In Germany, meanwhile, a firm reproducing paintings with the
help of a laser beam system was set up in 1990. Under this
system, the texture of a painting can be precisely imitated with
a piece of equipment that is like a computer mouse. A painting by
Karel Appel or Van Gogh, with a coarse surface, can be imitated
perfectly.

In England, there is a museum that reproduces its collection
and keeps the reproduction works in its branch museum in Canada.
Printed paintings produced by this Masterpiece have been taken to
many countries. In this way, the desire of art buffs to be able
to hang paintings by prestigious artists can be fulfilled. A
collection of these laser-produced paintings was once taken to
Indonesia and exhibited at Triana Gallery, Plaza Indonesia,
Jakarta.

The writer is an art critic.