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.