Hendra Gunawan's Tukang Es Puter
oil on canvas
149 x 69 cm
149 x 69 cm
Sidharta Fine Art Auction
1 November 2015
Kunstkring Jakarta
Together with Affandi and Sudjojono, Hendra Gunawan
has always been considered as the most important Indonesian modern masters. In fact,
not only does he paint the lives of the common people of Indonesia, the way he
creates forms, his brushstrokes, pallette and compositions are unlike any other
(especially Western) painter and
therefore often considered to be the most “authentically Indonesian” artist. In
conjunction with the 70th anniversary of the Indonesian Independence
this year, President Joko Widodo with the Paramadharma
cultural medal of honor.
We are very proud to feature in our Fine
Art Auction, Hendra Gunawan’s Tukang Es Puter, a painting depicting a scene
surround the activities of a crank ice cream vendor. In the hot, tropical
villages in Indonesia, while ice cream is certainly an item of luxury, some
villagers make ice cream using a simple hand crank ice cream maker that uses
crushed ice, raw milk and rock salt (similar to the kind that is used to make
old fashioned home-made ice cream in the Western world). They sell the product
by carrying a couple of large wooden pails of ice cream balanced on a large
wooden or bamboo stick, which they place on their shoulders, around the
villages.
In this particular scene, the painter slightly
diverts our attention away from the vendor, to take note of the kneeling woman
in the foreground. Just as the woman appears trying to enjoy a spoon of the es puter ice cream she just purchased,
her duties as a mother call. Her toddler seems still unable to yet end his
habit of breast-feeding, although he is no longer a small baby. Meanwhile, her
little girl seems to also attempting to attract her attention by hugging her
from behind. Her attempt to attain a simple pleasure is often held back by her
duties and obligations. Such is the complex life of common Indonesian women, as
Hendra Gunawan has observed.
Hendra Gunawan’s paintings usually are
depictions the common people and their lives. They are often not merely idyllic
pictorial renditions but often they are indeed insightful yet subtle
observations that explore their humanity, their struggle of making ends meet, their
attempts to attain their simple pleasures, and the challenges they often face. The
insightful observations, as can be seen in this painting, distinguish the
masterpieces from the rest.
