Search for other seven paintings continues
Search for other seven paintings continues
JAKARTA (JP): Although five of the 12 Indonesian paintings
allegedly stolen from the National Museum have been flown home,
the government is still tracing the fate of the other seven
paintings.
"Together with the police, we hope that we'll be able to find
the other seven paintings, which are believed to have been stolen
by the same culprits," Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman
Djojonegoro told The Jakarta Post last night.
Five of the seven still-missing paintings are by foreign
artists and the remaining two by locals, including the master of
portrait painting, Raden Basoeki Abdullah.
The first five are Jacqueline en Robe de Taffetas, by Albert
Andre, Alerte Aerienne, by Charles Walch, La Maison on Briques,
by Yves Fancheur, Village Provencal, by Raymond Moisset and an
untitled painting by Paul Collomb.
All of these paintings were donated to the Indonesian
government shortly after being displayed in an exhibition in
Jakarta a few years ago.
The other two paintings are an untitled painting by Basoeki
Abdullah and Mbah Irosentono, by Trubus Sudarsono.
According to Wardiman, six of the 12 paintings were discovered
missing on Sept. 6, and the others just this week.
As of yesterday, none of the museum staff have been arrested
by the police, although some of them have been constantly
questioned. Wardiman said earlier that the thefts were believed
to involve insiders.
According to Wardiman, all of the paintings were kept together
with the other paintings, categorized as a national collection,
at three different stores in the National Museum on Jl. Medan
Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta.
The minister urged local and foreign collectors to be more
careful in purchasing artworks from Indonesia.
"They should refuse to buy any works that do not have
legitimate documentation," he said.
"It's imperative there be international rules of principles
that buyers, possessing any cultural object, not be protected
unless they can prove unquestionably the legitimacy of the
objects in their possession," said Wardiman, who is also a
painting collector.
As reported earlier, five of the 12 allegedly stolen
paintings, which were listed in Christie's catalog for its Oct. 6
auction in Singapore, were presented as donations by the last
owner, a Singaporean collector, to Indonesian envoys on Thursday
evening.
Agreement
Wardiman said that according to an agreement reached between
the delegates and the collector's lawyer, Indonesia will not sue
the Singaporean.
"The lawyer said that his client had no idea the paintings he
bought were those stolen from the Jakarta museum," said Wardiman.
A reliable source said that the Singaporean was the third
person to owned the paintings after they were allegedly stolen
from the museum.
The five paintings are A Nude by Basoeki Abdullah, Portrait of
a Dutch Governor Wearing the Willems Order, by legendary master
Raden Saleh, and three paintings by Affandi: Parang Tritis, Kawah
Tangkuban Perahu, and Wadjah Diri dan Topeng.
"All of the five paintings are now being kept at the museum,"
said Wardiman.
Under the supervision of the Indonesian envoys led by Suwati
Kartiwa, head of the National Museum, the five paintings were
flown back to Jakarta on a Sempati flight, which arrived at the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 10:35 p.m. Thursday, said
the minister.
The return of the five paintings, which were automatically
withdrawn from Christie's auction, was hailed by local painting
enthusiasts as a remarkable success.
"I'm so happy with the news but I still can't understand why
an international auction house failed to make an in-depth check
on the authenticity of the paintings," tycoon Sudwikatmono. a
serious painting collector, told the Post yesterday.
Art observer, Amir Sidharta, said: "It's good news for us but
bad for the Singaporean collector, who finally had to donate the
paintings to Indonesia." (bsr)