Sunday, October 11, 2015

Property of a Lady, Jakarta Lots #087-090 (and #010-012)


Property of a Lady, Jakarta
Lots #087-090 (and 010-012)


In this auction we feature a collection of artworks from the collection of a Lady living in Jakarta. The collection includes a early painting by Sapto Hoedoyo (lot #087) dated 1946, depicting painting equipment probably which he used during the period of the Indonesian Revolutionary War (1945-49). There is a magnificent sculpture of a nude entitled Dhenok by an artist  whom we unfortunately have not been able to identify (lot #088) and three wayang beber (lots #010-012). Two artworks by Gregorius Sidharta Soegiyo: and a Cubistic painting of a figure or figures dating from 1960 (lot #089), and an undated, early forged steel Crucifix (lot #090), are certainly the main highlights of this collection and this auction.





















Sidharta’s Distinct Abstraction


Born in Yogyakartain 1932, Gregorius Sidharta Soegiyo, is clearly a unique master of Indonesian Modern Art.  He started his artistic journey when he joined the People’s Painters Studio in 1947, painting under the tutelage of Hendra Gunawan and Trubus Soedarsono. When the Indonesian Fine Art Academy (ASRI) was opened in Yogyakarta in 1950, he immediately enrolled. There, along with other students, he founded the Young Indonesian Painters group. He continued his art education at the van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, The Netherlands from 1953-6, apparently with the assistance of the Catholic mission.

Upon his return to Indonesia, from 1958 to 1964 he taught at ASRI’s sculpture studio. However, in 1965 he moved to Bandung. Along with But Muchtar and Rita Widagdo, he set up the Bandung Institute of Technology’s sculpture studio.

Having been born, raised, studied and taught in Yogyakarta, and later having taught and worked in Bandung, Sidharta transverses both Yogya and Bandung schools. Most of his metal sculptures show the heavy influence of the Bandung school, which seems close to Western modernism. On the other hand, his wood sculptures show the influence of Yogyakarta’s Decorativism which is close to Indonesian crafts.

While his shift from painting to sculpture seems to have happened following his studies in The Netherlands, he continued to paint in the 1960s. His paintings show the influence of Cubism, like the other Bandung artists. However, Sidharta’s Cubism is distinct from his colleagues who studied painting in Bandung. As he did not study under Ries Mulder, his Cubism seems considerably freer than Mochtar Apin’s and But Muchtar’s approach of Analytical Cubism, and hence also more difficult to decipher.


Abstract Figures
(lot #089)



Some see the painting as a depiction of three figures: a tall man in the background, a bowing female figure in front of him and a small child in the middle of the composition, and consider that it is a depiction of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. However, the absence of any haloes surrounding the figures might signify that the painting is actually not at all a depiction of a religious theme. Be that as it may, the presence of at least one figure in the painting seems definite.





Crucifix
(lot #090)



Sidharta’s Crucifix featured in this auction, is quite distinct from the artist’s other crucifixes. Compared to the three other crucifixes that are made of bronze and date from 1970, this particular crucifix seems to be done using a much stronger linear quality. However, close inspection would reveal that this crucifix is no less expressive than the others. Made out of steel, the crucifix has been made using a technique of forging, which may contribute to the difference in feel. This crucifix also seems to indicate influences of Cubism, suggesting that it is a piece that dates earlier than the other three crucifixes.





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