Lefranc and Bourgeois back painting
By Parvathi Nayar Narayan
JAKARTA (JP): Lefranc and Bourgeois is known as a quality oil paint manufacturer, combining historical formulae with the advances made by modern chemistry. They have an exciting range of 132 colors, which are loaded to saturation to make the colors exceptionally intense in hue and versatility. They also have some new and highly innovative products -- ranges of metallic, glazing and interference colors. The latter has a degree of metallic pigment mixed into it and is useful to emphasize finishing touches.
Datascrip acquired the Lefranc and Bourgeois dealership in Indonesia in January 1996, believing there was room in the local art market for a quality range of paints. Datascrip plans to bring Lefranc and Bourgeois experts from France to conduct workshops to familiarize Indonesians with the new range of paint and its applications.
Apart from professional quality oil paints (Lefranc) and student quality oil paints (Louvre), and complementary products like oils and varnishes, Lefranc and Bourgeois now offer Polyflashe, a newly developed acrylic-vinyl paint, and gouache paints. There is also a crafts range of paints, with Elbesoie for silk and Vitrial for glass. There is a children's range of colors as well. Currently the products are available in stationary stores in Jakarta like Maruzen (Seibu), Gramedia and Gunung Agung.
The paints were launched in conjunction with an exhibition of 11 Indonesian women artists, entitled Lefranc Colour and Art in Harmony with the Indonesian Lady Painter. The show features artists like Yuriah Tanzil, P. Lanny Andriani, Vanda Affan, Theresia S. Maringka and Rukmini Yusuf, and will be opened by Mrs. Rochmayati Harmoko, the vice president of the Indonesian Art Association.
The show, says Jeffrey Long, the marketing director at Datascrip, "is only the embryo of an idea. We plan to have many more exhibitions in the future."
Mother's Day is on May 12. It seems all the more appropriate, then, that this is such a great week for women artists in Jakarta. Another show, Made in Indonesia at Erasmus Huis, showcases the work of nine women artists. Though these women are currently living in Indonesia they hail from all over the world, and from professional backgrounds as varied as physics to design and music to geography.
Most of them have led expatriate lives, traveling through various countries, and bring to their work this richness of cross-cultural influences. The paintings are in an interesting variety of media. Of special note are the beautiful range of watercolors, in an array of styles that range from the luminous Jakarta kitchen landscapes of Trina Bohan-Tyrie, to the Charles Read-like flowing flower paintings of Marjan Janssen, to the intricate glazes of Lindsay Wall.
* Lefranc Colour and Art in Harmony with the Indonesian Lady Painter is on at the Foyer, Shang-Palace Restaurant, Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta, from May 10 to 15, 1996, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
* Made in Indonesia is on at the Erasmus Huis, Jl. H. R. Rasuna Said, Kav. S-3, Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan, from May 6 to 12.