Saturday, October 29, 2016

Abas Alibasjah | Sidharta Fine Art Auction 20 November & 11 December 2016





Lot #333, Abas Alibasyah, Scenery


Abas Alibasyah  
(Purwakarta, W. Java, 1928 - Jakarta, 2016)

In the 1990s, Abas Alibasyah was most famous for his paintings of rather surrealistic masks and landscapes, but his works could not be easily categorized as coming from the Yogya school of Surrealism nor Decorativism. Devoid of human figure, his landscapes seemed to reveal the artist's melancholy. Although his masks seem to suggest human presence, they also enhance the melancholic spirit of his paintings.

While in Session I, there is a painting entitled Flowers and Mask dating from 1989 (lot #112), in this section there are four other relatively early Abas Alibasjah paintings from two collections. Mascot, 1969 (lot #331) Abstraksi Warna, 1967 (lot # 332) are typical of his paintings from the 1960s, in which the artist seemed to explore colorist abstraction.

Scenery, 1971 (lot #333) is a predecessor of his later melancholic and rather surrealistic landscapes that are devoid of human figures. In this painting, the landscape appears more realistic,  but no less haunting. Somehow it seems to remind us not to neglect our environment.

Last but not least, Cili, 1991 (lot #334) also seems to be a predecessor of his later paintings of masks. The painting extends the artist's exploration of abstraction while including the mask as an icon. Hence, the painting appears more of an artistic expression rather than a realistic description of the subject matter.





Lot #112, Abas Alibasyah, Flower and Mask

Lot #331, Abas Alibasyah, Mascot




Lot #332, Abas Alibasyah, Abstraksi Warna





Lot #334, Abas Alibasyah, Cili

Artworks by Tionghoa (Indonesians of Chinese Descent) Painters (lots #355 - 371)





Lot #360, Lim Kwie Bing, Gunung Kawi Bali



Lot #127, Lim Wasim, Pendet Dancer



Artworks by Tionghoa (Indonesians of Chinese Descent) Painters

(lots #355 - 371)


The Tionghoa (Indonesians of Chinese descent) played an important role in shaping the

history of Indonesian art. As early as 1955, Lee Man Fong already held an exhibition at the

Kolff Bookstore in Batavia and participated in an exhibition that was held by the Dutch

Indies Art Association at Hotel Des Indes the following year.



Lot #358, Lee Man Fong, Bunga Kembang Sepatu




The Indonesian Proclamation of Independence in 1945, was followed the Indonesian

Revolutionary War in 1945-49 and eventually the Dutch recognition of Indonesian

sovereignity at the end of 1949. In 1955, along with other Tionghoa figures and artists, Lee

Man Fong established an organization called Yin Hua Meishu Xiehui (The Organization of

Indonesian Chinese Artists) in Jakarta. They held their first exhibition in January 1956.

Among the names listed as members (other than Lee Man Fong), are Tjio Tek-Djin (whose

portrait by Trubus Soedarsono appears in lot #073 of this auction), and Lim Kwie Bing who

was known to have also chaired the Tsing Feng She and M.M Art Club in Malang. Later on,

Lim Wa Sim also joined Yin Hua.





Lot #355, Lim Wasim, Mencari Kutu




As the definition of national art was never conclusively formulated, the complexity

of the Tionghoa identity (being a mixture or cross section of Indonesian and Chinese),

actually contributed to the diversity of national aesthetics stated Brigitta Isabella, a

researcher who has done research on Yin Hua. Lee Man Fong, for example, often painted

Indonesian subject matter using the hanging scroll format of Chinese landscape painting.

Yet, his European training and aesthetics further complicated and at the same time enrich

the enculturation.



In this auction section we feature the works by several Tionghoa artists, including some

historic works. Liem Kwie Bing's Boy with Kite (lot #369) dates from 1947, while Lee Man

Fong's drawing of a Buddha Figure (lot #357) dates from 1958. Lim Wa Sim's Mencari Kutu

(lot #355), Anton Huang's sketch of a Balinese market scene (lot #364), and Lim Kwie Bing's

intricate renditions of Balinese rituals (lots #370 & 371) all date from the 1960s and '70s).

Lee Man Fong's impressionistic Bunga Kembang Sepatu (lot #358), Liem Tjoe Ing's and From

the 1980s are among others Huang Fong's expressive renditions of horses (lot #359, 360 &

362), Adam Lay's serene painting of gold fish (lot #361), Huang Fong's elegant painting of a

Balinese dancer (lot #365), Liem Tjoe Ing's painting of fishermen by the beach (lot #366).

and his watercolor of reliefs of a Javanese temple (lot #367).



Lot #369, Lim Kwie Bing, Boy and Kite




Lot #365, Huang Fong, Siap Menari (Legong)




Although not grouped in this section, there are a number of other Tionghoa artists whose

works appear here. Among the woman artists, Maria Tjui (whose painting appears in lot

#115), is a Tionghoa artist famous for her expressiveness in her art, and also Ivan Sagito

(whose painting appears in lot #343), was very influential in the development of

Contemporary Indonesian art in the 1980s and 1990s.


Each Indonesian Chinese artist, with their unique cultural paradigms, contributes to the

diversity of Indonesian art.






lot #356, Lim Kwie Bing, Gadis Bali



Lot #357, Lee Man Fong, Budai






Lot #359, Liem Tjoe Ing, Kuda #1


Lot #360, Liem Tjoe Ing, Kuda #2


Lot #361, Adam Lay, Goldfish



Lot #362, Huang Fong, The Power of Spirit



Lot #363, Tatang Kuntjoro, By the Riverside




Lot #364, Anton Huang, Sketsa Pasar



Lot #366, Liem Tjoe Ing, Nelayan



Lot #367, Liem Tjoe Ing, Relief Candi



Lot #368, Liem Tjoe Ing, Lumbung



Lot #371, Lim Kwie Bing, Temple Ceremony