John van der Sterren's artistic sentimental journey

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Nostalgia and bold lines are features by which the paintings of John van der Sterren can be recognized.

Much of his work used to be directly related to Indonesia, where he was born and has spent part of his adult years.

But the current exhibition of his paintings, held at the Four Seasons hotel here, is dedicated to New Zealand, the country where he found a warm welcome after his parents emigrated after World War II. The exhibition was his way of saying thank you, he explained.

New Zealand, an island nation southeast of Australia, may not be generally known as well as other parts of the region, but tourist information highlights the South Island, also called The Mainland, as a place of scenic beauty.

This is the place where John van der Sterren used to spend holidays in his younger years, trying his hand at painting, a hobby that he nurtured along with playing music. The current exhibition is meant as a nostalgic journey, precisely to the places that had thrilled him then.

For those ignorant of the actual locations, the paintings may not give any clue as to which country they refer to, nor is there much difference in the representation of different places suggested by the titles.

What most people will remember though, are the bold lines indicating the contours of roads, mountains, clouds or vegetation in desolate landscapes, in colors reminiscent of the fauvists and the lingering notion of dampened sunshine.

The New Zealand citizen with Dutch heritage John van der Sterren was born in Sukabumi in 1938. He left Indonesia after World War II, and headed for New Zealand, where his parents ultimately built a new life.

Working for an international company brought him back to Indonesia, the land of his childhood. While he took up more serious painting in 1992, when Duta Fine Arts gallery Didier Hamel spurred his artistic potential, his main profession lay in another field, which he was reluctant to expand on. Painting has remained just a hobby, something he does for fun, he insists.

While nothing in the exhibition reminds us of the early days of New Zealand, one cannot help remembering that the first European explorer to sail into New Zealand waters was a navigator by the name of Abel Janszoon Tasman.

Like van der Sterren, he was a Dutchman. The year was 1642, and the New Zealand annals recount that the first encounter between Maori and Europeans was violent, leading to bloodshed. Although Tasman was able to partly chart the coastline, he had to leave New Zealand without having had the occasion to set foot ashore.

The coincidence also brings the awareness of John van der Sterren's lucky fate over three-and-a-half centuries later. He was able to return to that part of New Zealand, which he says he has loved most, the South Island and particularly Central Otago.

Living in Indonesia for 33 years and in New Zealand for 34 years in addition to numerous trips around the world, John van der Sterren has evidently created his own distinctive style, unaffected by either the ambience of the countries where he spent his life.

With a few exceptions, his numerous exhibitions were held in Bali and Java.

Return to the Mainland
A Journey to the South Island of New Zealand
Exhibition of paintings by John van der Sterren
Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta
through Oct. 10