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

No comments:

Post a Comment