JP/19/AUCT

JP/19/AUCT

Another RI auction house opens up in Singapore

Carla Bianpoen
Contributor/Jakarta

For art lovers, connoisseurs and art collectors, auctions are
usually events of great joy and high expectation.

They are opportunities to meet friends and acquaintances, see
art works at previews that are like exquisite art exhibitions or
and become the proud owner of a beautiful catalog that will stand
out on the shelves of a home library.

With an abundance of auctions held in the region, there is
certainly plenty of art available. But it seems that "plenty" is
still not enough.

As of this coming Saturday, there will be more, especially for
the international art crowd, for Indonesian auction house
Borobudur is going international.

On that day, it will hold its inaugural auction at Shangri-La
hotel Singapore. Will they be competing with Larasati auction
house, which has earlier jumped to Singapore? "Not really," says
John Andreas, Borobudur's boss who would rather be seen as
another Indonesian contributor to the international art scene.

Unlike the usual number of lots that lie between 100 and 200,
Borobudur is featuring only 32. But they are of the best quality
and made by world renowned masters, insists the Borobudur owner,
who comes from a shipping business background.

"It is a family business called Benua Samudra Sentosa",
elaborates 36-year-old John, who began his love affair with art
collecting in 1998.

While Affandi, Miguel Covarrubias, Hendra Gunawan, Willem
Gerard Hofker, Le Mayeur de Merpres, Lee Man Fong, Theo Meier,
Sudjojono, Srihadi, Arie Smit, and more, are names that appear in
almost every auction of standing, the Borobudur Singapore auction
has made great strides to present fine works that have rarely
been exposed.

Lee Man Fong, for instance, is now represented by paintings
made between the early 1940s and 1960s -- among others, a still
life of roses (made in 1965), White Rooster (1943), Reclining
Nude (1951), Two Doves (1944), and Balinese Life (1970s), which
many collectors have long yearned for.

Similarly, the Affandis in this auction refer not only to
Indonesian scenes like Balinese Prince in Art Gallery (1973),
Cockfight (1968) and Barong (1985) but also Landscape in Europe
(1962), and The Colosseum in Rome (1972).

Willem Gerard Hofker, whom many may associate with romantic
nude or half-nude images on paper or canvas, is here represented
by a still life, Various Flowers in a Vase (1952), reportedly
made for a wedding present to his niece in the past.

Quite outstanding, furthermore, are Hendra Gunawan's The Girls
are going home from the Market (1967), the lyrical
realist/impressionist watercolor by the 1919-born Chinese artist
Wu Guan Zhong titled Bumper Harvest, and the artist's ink and
color painting titled Sunrise at Mount Huang, as well as the
Vietnamese master le Pho's Motherhood (1938), and Two Javanese
Ladies (1923) by Isaac Israels.

Another surprise is the inclusion of an unusual painting by
Antonio Blanco, Kebyar Dancer.

Although the Borobudur auction is being launched amid a series
of art events in Singapore, including auctions by Larasati,
Sotheby's, an art exhibition of Indonesian masters at Art Retreat
private museum, and Christie's Hongkong auction preview, some
collectors are convinced that the prime collection of only 32
paintings is bound to attract the attention of Singapore art
cognoscenti.

in box:
Important Southeast Asian Paintings
To be auctioned by Borobudur Auctionhouse
Shangri-La Hotel, Tower Ballroom A, Orange Grove Road, Singapore
Saturday, 8 October 11 a.m.

Public Viewing, Thursday Oct 6. 11 a.m. through 8 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 9, 11 a.m. through 8 p.m.
Gardenia Room, Mezzanine Floor, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore