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Lot Essay
"When I started interviewing artists, collectors and curators in Indonesia in late 1987, I experienced that the name Hendra nearly always came up in the course of conversations about who were the greatest Indonesian painters. This seemed to happen whether my informant was a wealthy art collector, a recognized artist or a poor art student, whether someone with a radical world view or someone most satisfied with the establishment and the status quo. One collector I met lives surrounded by Hendra's works, many of which he commissioned personally, providing the paint and canvas while Hendra was in prison. The collector speaks passionately of Hendra's genius for colour and his daring use of contrasts, in composition and theme." (Astri Wright, Modern Indonesian Art: three Generations of Tradition and Change 1945-1990, ed. Joseph Fischer, United States, 1990, p. 121).
The comment above illustrates the wide spread empathy the Indonesian community had for the artist, Hendra Gunawan. This is a reciprocal exchange as it testifies to the artist's ability to touch a chord of the heart of the community with his paintings. Hendra's works are about the people and more specifically about the women of his community.
The present canvas elegantly illustrates the tendency of the artist to glorify women. The colours were used strategically and unabashedly to bring out the grandiose of the landscape, which were in the characteristic emerald green, blue and earthy tones that gave the work a sobriety that was enlivened by the riot of colours on the sitter. Sitting by herself, she looks on to a team of passing possession, a common scene of daily Balinese routines, which in this instance, she remains as an onlooker and not a participant. Interestingly, Hendra placed the team of possession in the background, almost too small to be seen by the viewer. Nevertheless, with the artist's spontaneous blotching and specking, a vivacious group of music, colours and clutter is effortlessly represented. Looking on, the woman in the foreground is 'enlarged' due to her position and thence 'emphasized' by the artist as he hints to the individual uniqueness and elegance of every Indonesian women which might be concealed in a communal activity, but always ready to be reckoned with, as one turn the spotlight on her.
The comment above illustrates the wide spread empathy the Indonesian community had for the artist, Hendra Gunawan. This is a reciprocal exchange as it testifies to the artist's ability to touch a chord of the heart of the community with his paintings. Hendra's works are about the people and more specifically about the women of his community.
The present canvas elegantly illustrates the tendency of the artist to glorify women. The colours were used strategically and unabashedly to bring out the grandiose of the landscape, which were in the characteristic emerald green, blue and earthy tones that gave the work a sobriety that was enlivened by the riot of colours on the sitter. Sitting by herself, she looks on to a team of passing possession, a common scene of daily Balinese routines, which in this instance, she remains as an onlooker and not a participant. Interestingly, Hendra placed the team of possession in the background, almost too small to be seen by the viewer. Nevertheless, with the artist's spontaneous blotching and specking, a vivacious group of music, colours and clutter is effortlessly represented. Looking on, the woman in the foreground is 'enlarged' due to her position and thence 'emphasized' by the artist as he hints to the individual uniqueness and elegance of every Indonesian women which might be concealed in a communal activity, but always ready to be reckoned with, as one turn the spotlight on her.