Jais falls deeply in love with the arts

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali

Once, she was relatively unknown in the art world. No one in either the local and or global art circle would have noticed her shuttling from gallery to gallery, let alone at prestigious auction houses. Once, she was even denied entrance to an auction house in Europe.

But then she made herself heard. Sitting in the front row at an art auction, she confidently made a surprise bid.

Almost everyone in the room stared at her cynically, as if wondering "who is that petite Asian lady who dares to make a bid in one of the most important art auctions?"

That "lady" was Jais Hadiana Dargawidjaya, an Indonesian art dealer who now spends her days running from one auction to another around the world.

"They (accomplished art collectors and dealers) thought I was insane. I was not one of them and not recognized as either an art collector or dealer," Jais said, recalling her early days struggling to make a name for herself. Now, she stands tall among world art collectors and dealers.

Only a few Asian people have been able to penetrate the "close and established art dealer club" in the West. And it needed extra efforts to be noticed and accepted by members of that society, added Jais when she visited her home and gallery in Bali.

Born into a rich, extended family in Bandung 45 years ago, Jais never dreamed of becoming an art dealer.

She studied at a secretarial college in her hometown in Bandung but was surrounded by many artist friends. Painter Jeihan, music critic and writer Remy Sylado are among her old pals. She also happened to be cast in a number of teen movies in the l970s before she moved to Jakarta.

It was her father Dargawidjaya, who was of the landed gentry class who became her idol. "He gave me a lot of lessons and always inspired me to be courageous in facing hardships in life," said the mother of a teenage daughter.

Jais, who married Pascal Landsberg only two months ago, has a 12 year-old daughter, Magali, from a previous marriage and brought her up as a single mother.

"I just follow my life and my destiny. It is like water flowing through a river," she said.

Juggling business and family concerns has not been easy even for a strong-willed woman like Jais.

In the early stage of her career, she found life was quite difficult, having to start a business from scratch while taking care of her baby all alone.

Starting out in the art business in the early 70s, she managed it from her home. To display her collection, Jais set up an exhibition at the Mercantile Club, which worked quite well. She began dealing with clients who wanted to buy and collect paintings.

"I spent hours providing them with necessary information about each piece. Some buyers had little or no knowledge of the arts but they wanted to start collecting," Jais said. In the l980s when art was booming in Indonesia, many wealthy people were eager to buy paintings of Indonesian and foreign artists for both private collections and as a profitable investment.

In the early l990s, she moved to Bali, one of centers for the arts in Indonesia, and opened Darga gallery in Sanur area in l996.

When she tried to penetrate the European art market, she thought it would be an impossible mission. Yet, she has been quite successful despite all the obstacles.

"I am a stubborn woman," she admitted.

But there's one thing Jais regrets -- disappointing her only child when she needed her most. At that time, her daughter, who was still studying at a private school in Bali, was performing in a school program.

"My daughter never asked me for anything, even for toys. But at that time, she just asked me to watch her show. I really could not make it as I was still involved in my first big art deal in Paris, thousands of miles away," she recalled.

Now, Jais is building her new family in Paris with Pascal and Magali by her side. For her, living in Paris is also the gateway to the world arts community. In l998, she opened Darga-Landsberg gallery in one of Paris's affluent areas.

"For me, living in Paris has given me wide exposure to the masterpieces of international artists from various countries, periods and movements," Jais said.

In her opinion, an art dealer should be kept informed about every movement in the global art market, and Paris is the perfect place to be.

"In Indonesia, art dealers are not yet respected. Most people think of an art dealer as someone who sells paintings."

In Indonesia, she found people mostly prefer to be called art collectors or art critics rather than an art dealers.

Being a good and respected art dealer, one should be knowledgeable, well-informed about "art market mechanism" and have access to a broad network of art dealers, owners of galleries and the management of museums as well as potential clients.

Good networking is a must, she added. Citing an example, if a client needed a painting by Salvador Dali or another masters and she did not have one, she would send the client directly to one of her dealer colleagues.

When dealing with the price of artwork in Indonesia, each party -- artist, gallery owner and collector, tends to blame one another. "The Indonesian arts community does not have any guidelines to standardize the prices of any items offered for sale," she said.

In Indonesia, the market is still developing.

"I am glad, there are a number of local auction houses emerging which will certainly help shape the map of the Indonesian art market."

Jais now divides her time between her home and gallery in Paris and in Suwung, Sanur, Bali. "I spend between two to three months in Bali running my gallery and holding some exhibitions or cultural gatherings at Darga."

When exhibiting artworks in Darga-Bali, she selects the ones that would benefit local artists and art-lovers.

"A gallery is not only a place of business. It should also be a place for education and art appreciation."

Jais boasted that she displayed works by masters like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezzane when she first opened Darga gallery in Sanur. "I didn't mean to show off. But only to give the chance for young artists in Indonesia to view the works of masters," she argued.

During the opening of Darga-Landsberg in Paris four years ago, she brought works of Indonesian artists like Jeihan, Affandi and many more.

Recently, Darga Gallery in Sanur displayed works of Chinese- born Paris artist Chu-Teh Chun. "He is one of the most accomplished Asian-born painters in Paris. My intention was to encourage young Indonesian artists to follow his path -- to be recognized in the world art stage."

And a few weeks ago, she held a book launching for young writer Bre Redana.

"I really hope I can make just a small contribution to the development of artistic and creative activities in Indonesia."