PRINTPROVENANCE:
Private collection, Indonesia
This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Museum. H. Widayat.
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Flora and Fauna
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1981 Oil on canvas 150 x 200 cm Signed lower right Widajat and dated 81 |
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Estimate
460,000 - 700,000 1,862,000 - 2,834,000 59,300 - 90,300
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PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Indonesia
This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Museum. H. Widayat.
Catalogue Note:
THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF LYRICAL SENSIBILITIES
Widayat's paintings have been described as magical-decorative and have contributed significantly to the development of Indonesian art since the 1950s. When the Republic of Indonesia became independent after the Second World War, many artists strived to rid their art from traditions of their Dutch colonizers in attempts to derived artistic productions that were distinctively Indonesian as means to unite the sprawling archipelago of the East Indies. In retrospect, Hendra Gunawan and Affandi incorporated Indonesian folk themes in their efforts to identify their Indonesian identity. Widayat developed his distinctive magical-decorative stylislic approach that draws from his subjective past experiences in Indonesia and Japan. "Flora and Fauna" epitomizes the case in point, where the dense visual fantasy of jungle life reflects qualities of a primordial innocence and savagery, with attention given to depicting the tiger as it stands upon the edge of the cliff in the foreground overlooking the paranoiac view of further distant verdant jungle shrubbery as the backdrop. The intricacy of the present lot is reminiscent of Widayat's mother laborious intensive crafting of the refined batik design that young Widayat grew up observing. In this regard, although the sombre tonal schemas of "Flora and Fauna" may appear monochromatic from a distance, it is in fact accented with selected areas of subtle vibrant blueish-green that imbue the leaves on the luxuriant trees with boughs reaching like steady structures to support crowns of verdant foliage where magpies perched upon, while an ornate filigree of dots and lines filled the background of the jungle shrubbery, creating a composition that is enchantingly beautiful with an air of magical drifting calm.
The geographic archipelago's of Tarumanagara, Sriwijaya, Singhasari, Majapahit or Mataram constitute the backbone of a rich cultural heritage unique to Indonesia. Widayat experienced the naturalistic landscape of the beautiful Indies early on in his artistic career when he was under the apprenticeship for Mulyono, who supplied souvenir landscape paintings in Bandung, West Java. Widayat subsequently relocated to Palembang, Sumatra in 1939 to work as surveyors in rubber plantations with fields that stretches across hundreds of hectares of land, where he was exposed to the wilderness of the Sumatran jungles with its incredible variety of vegetation and avian lives. These elements seems to have been incorporated into Widayat's thematic oeuvre and manifested itself in the form of pictorial influence in works such as the present lot, where the sombre and tightly packed compositional arrangement of the thematic oeuvre of the tiger as the king of the jungle in its natural habitat is also reflective of Rousseau influences, portrayed in the distinctive approach of Widayat's signature magical-decorative paintings that remains highly sought after by connoisseurs. In essence, the present lot appears to exhibits a more complex and harmonious intricate compositional arrangement of various types of flora and fauna in comparison to another painting of similar composition presenting residing in the H. Widayat. Museum. The relatively more ornately crowded surfaces of the present lot parallels Widayat's motto which posits "If all the elements of art are composed harmoniously, the resulting art will be alive and valuable. " The simultaneous incorporation of these exquisite qualities results infuse the present lot with a magical sublimity and mysterious antiquity that remain highly sought after by connoisseurs. Widayat was already among the ranks of the most esteemed artist in Indonesia and was receiving attention on a national level as early as the 1950s, when his painting garnered an award from the National Council on Culture. "Flora and Fauna" truly testifies to a mastery in his characteristically primitive magical-decorative style imbued with an air of archaic ambiance that reflects an artist of remarkable versatility with an insatiable curiosity to experiment with the new.
Widayat's paintings have been described as magical-decorative and have contributed significantly to the development of Indonesian art since the 1950s. When the Republic of Indonesia became independent after the Second World War, many artists strived to rid their art from traditions of their Dutch colonizers in attempts to derived artistic productions that were distinctively Indonesian as means to unite the sprawling archipelago of the East Indies. In retrospect, Hendra Gunawan and Affandi incorporated Indonesian folk themes in their efforts to identify their Indonesian identity. Widayat developed his distinctive magical-decorative stylislic approach that draws from his subjective past experiences in Indonesia and Japan. "Flora and Fauna" epitomizes the case in point, where the dense visual fantasy of jungle life reflects qualities of a primordial innocence and savagery, with attention given to depicting the tiger as it stands upon the edge of the cliff in the foreground overlooking the paranoiac view of further distant verdant jungle shrubbery as the backdrop. The intricacy of the present lot is reminiscent of Widayat's mother laborious intensive crafting of the refined batik design that young Widayat grew up observing. In this regard, although the sombre tonal schemas of "Flora and Fauna" may appear monochromatic from a distance, it is in fact accented with selected areas of subtle vibrant blueish-green that imbue the leaves on the luxuriant trees with boughs reaching like steady structures to support crowns of verdant foliage where magpies perched upon, while an ornate filigree of dots and lines filled the background of the jungle shrubbery, creating a composition that is enchantingly beautiful with an air of magical drifting calm.
The geographic archipelago's of Tarumanagara, Sriwijaya, Singhasari, Majapahit or Mataram constitute the backbone of a rich cultural heritage unique to Indonesia. Widayat experienced the naturalistic landscape of the beautiful Indies early on in his artistic career when he was under the apprenticeship for Mulyono, who supplied souvenir landscape paintings in Bandung, West Java. Widayat subsequently relocated to Palembang, Sumatra in 1939 to work as surveyors in rubber plantations with fields that stretches across hundreds of hectares of land, where he was exposed to the wilderness of the Sumatran jungles with its incredible variety of vegetation and avian lives. These elements seems to have been incorporated into Widayat's thematic oeuvre and manifested itself in the form of pictorial influence in works such as the present lot, where the sombre and tightly packed compositional arrangement of the thematic oeuvre of the tiger as the king of the jungle in its natural habitat is also reflective of Rousseau influences, portrayed in the distinctive approach of Widayat's signature magical-decorative paintings that remains highly sought after by connoisseurs. In essence, the present lot appears to exhibits a more complex and harmonious intricate compositional arrangement of various types of flora and fauna in comparison to another painting of similar composition presenting residing in the H. Widayat. Museum. The relatively more ornately crowded surfaces of the present lot parallels Widayat's motto which posits "If all the elements of art are composed harmoniously, the resulting art will be alive and valuable. " The simultaneous incorporation of these exquisite qualities results infuse the present lot with a magical sublimity and mysterious antiquity that remain highly sought after by connoisseurs. Widayat was already among the ranks of the most esteemed artist in Indonesia and was receiving attention on a national level as early as the 1950s, when his painting garnered an award from the National Council on Culture. "Flora and Fauna" truly testifies to a mastery in his characteristically primitive magical-decorative style imbued with an air of archaic ambiance that reflects an artist of remarkable versatility with an insatiable curiosity to experiment with the new.