Sidharta Fine Art Auction 25 November 2018 | The Collection of The Late Raden Achmad Kosasih (lots #93 - 98)

The Collection of The Late Raden Achmad Kosasih (lots #93 - 98)

Raden Achmad Kosasih was born in Sukabumi, West Java, in 1924. In 1946, he joined the Tentara Republik Indonesia (Army of the Republic of Indonesia) Siliwangi Division to fight in the Indonesian Revolutionary War (1945-49), against the Dutch and the Allied forces who wanted to reclaim Indonesia as their colony.

In his military career thereafter, among other positions he served as Commander of the Siliwangi Military Region, from 1957 to 1960. During this time he and his family resided in a house on Jl. Dago 37, Bandung. Kosasih proudly decorated his house with paintings, and even compiled photographs of the paintings and its placement in the house in a handsome album titled Dago 37 Bandung. The album included Abedi’s Modjang Priangan (lot #93), Sudjono Abdullah’s Waves of The Sea (lot #94), Dezentjé’s Karang Hawu (lot #95), and Agus Djaya’s Tari Api di Ceylon (lot #97). On the back of the painting by Agus Djaya is a inscription “For Kol. Kosasih from the Highest Commander”, indicating that it was gifted by President Sukarno around 1957. The other paintings in the album seemed to be acquisitioned around the late 1950s to early 1960s.

Later, Kosasih was assigned as Indonesia’s Ambassador to Australia (1964 - 68). From 1970 to 1974 he became Governor of Lembaga Pertahanan Nasional (the National Resilience Institute). Then, he was appointed to be Indonesia’s Ambassador to The Netherlands (1979 - 83).

Kosasih passed away in Bandung in 1992, with the last rank of Lieutenant General. During his lifetime he was very active in the legislative, political, diplomatic, business, social and religious world. In addition, his love in the field of sports and also activities as an athlete led him to be trusted to lead various national sports organizations such as the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (PPSI).

In this auction we feature some wonderful art pieces from the collection of Raden Achmad Kosasih, including the works featured in the album mentioned earlier, with the addition of Lee Man Fong’s Two Doves (lot #98) and Srihadi Soedarsono’s Houses in a Dutch Village (lot #96), which appears to have been collected in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Through this auction, avid collectors will be able to place their bids and hopefully become a proud owner of a piece that was once part of Raden Achmad Kosasih’s Dago 37 collection in Bandung or the artworks he later acquired and displayed in his house in Jakarta.

Lot 93, Abedi, Modjang Priangan

Lot 94, Sudjono Abdullah, Waves of The Sea

Lot 95, Dezentje, Ernest, Karang Hawu

Lot 96, Srihadi Soedarsono, Houses in a Dutch Village

Lot 97, Agus Djaya, Tari Api di Ceylon

Lot 98, Lee Man Fong, Two Doves

Link to Sidharta's Fine Art Auction, 25 November 2018: https://bit.ly/2zPBjhL

Link to Sidharta's Fine Art Auction, 25 November 2018 pdf catalog: https://bit.ly/2QzKhHf

Sidharta Collectibles Auction, Bogor, 18 November 2018 Collection of Dr. Sarwono (1913 - 2002) and Sophie Sarwono (1922-2016)

Sidharta Collectibles Auction, Bogor, 18 November 2018 Collection of Dr. Sarwono (1913 - 2002) and Sophie Sarwono (1922-2016), prominent couple in Bogor

https://www.sidharta-auctioneer.com/auctions/details/CT20181118

Sarwono (a surgeon and gynaecologist), his wife Sophie and their 7 children moved to Bogor from Tegal in 1959, when he was assigned to lead the Red Cross hospital (Rumahsakit PMI) in Bogor. In 1961 Dr. Sarwono bought the house at Papandayan from two brothers who had to return to their country of origin, China. The house at Jl. Papandayan 17, designed by architect Frederich Silaban, who later designed Istiqlal (the largest mosque in South-East Asia) in Jakarta, gives ample space to the entire family. The pavilion was used as a maternity clinic, where most of Sarwono’s grandchildren were born.

The house (in its original form) and its content have witnessed family Sarwono grow bigger and become older. The family is known as The Sars, because the names  of the four sons begin with “Sar-”. Sarlito (the late prominent psychologist, 1944-2016) was the first born, while the others are Sarwanto, Sarsanto, and Sarsito. The house has strong sentimental value. It has hosted various events: weddings, birthdays, reunions, bazaars, seminars, as well as Idul Fitri celebrations. Sophie liked to organize meetings and parties in their big house. But sad events also happened in that house. Family and friends came there to pay their respect when Sarwono and Sophie passed away in 2002 and 2016, respectively.

Although Sarwono and Sophie did not consider themselves to be art collectors, they appreciated beautiful things. Her Dutch education taught Sophie to appreciate antiques and art works. Visiting museums when travelling overseas was one of her hobbies. She furnished her house with classic pieces made of durable quality materials. Friends who knew her interest in artistic items gave her unique birthday presents. Hendra Hadiprana, owner of an art gallery, for instance, gave Sophie Chinese zodiac statues on her birthdays, one each year.

Sophie liked  Indonesian traditional textiles, especially batik. Since she got married in 1943 she wore the kain-kebaya every day. When she was over 70 years old she changed her attire with something more comfortable: blouse and sarung or long dress. Many of her batik pieces were inherited from her mother. Sophie’s favorite shop to buy batik was Sido Mukti in Jakarta.

Being aware of his wife’s keen interest in Indonesian art, one day in the 1950’s Sarwono surprised Sophie with an unexpected gift: a complete silver dining set. He presented the gift saying that he had bought the set with the money he would have spent on cigarettes for the rest of his life. Sarwono (a chain-smoker then) had decided to quit smoking overnight and he succeeded. A small part of the silverware was for the family’s daily use. For special guests Sophie used more of the silverware. Over the years more items have apparently been added to the collection, but most of them are hardly used.

In the early years of their stay in Bogor, Sarwono and Sophie got to know Ernst Dezentjé, a Dutch painter living in the area of Megamendung, Bogor. They visited each other, enjoying chatting in Dutch. Sarwono often visited Dezentjé at home, watched him painting the landscape or teaching his adopted son, Djupriani, to paint. Through his friendship with the artist, Sarwono learned to understand and appreciate paintings. When he saw a painting, he compared it with Dezentjé’s work. Sarwono and Sophie liked Dezentjé’s work and bought a few of them. The painting Pasar by Djupriani has attracted the couple, too. On the other hand, Dezentjé had given a couple of paintings to Sophie. As a medical doctor, Sarwono helped to maintain the condition of the aged and fragile artist who died in 1972 at the age of 87.

Sarwono and Sophie knew another painter, Abdul Aziz and his wife Mary (Northmore). In the 1990s they visited the painter in Ubud and enjoyed his work exposed in his gallery. Sarwono and Sophie felt honoured to receive a painting, Shopping from The Maestro. It is added to their collection of paintings.  

Many of the collections from The Sarwonos’ Bogor house will be auctioned in Session I of Sidharta Auctioneer’s Collectibles auction on 18 November 2018 at Jl. Papandayan 17, Bogor.

The paintings from the property of The Sarwonos will be auctioned in Sidharta Auctioneer's Fine Art auction on 25 November 2018 at Tugu Kunstkring Paleis in Jakarta. https://www.sidharta-auctioneer.com/pdfs/CT20181118.pdf