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Lot Essay
"Although his style and colours developed, Hendra's choice of themes did not change dramatically in his painting life. From the beginning, it seems, Hendra was painting people in contexts of work and play, in celebration, struggle, and death. Such themes were well established long before he joined LERKA. Seeds of Hendra's mature style were already in place in the 1950s, such as the tendency to depict people in profile or in silhouette, with a certain stylised exaggeration of facial features, expressive body movements, and long thin arms. This vocabulary is related to that of the wayang, which has influenced so much on one of the features that make Hendra's paintings look 'Indonesian'." (Astri Wright, Soul, Spirit, and Mountain: Preoccupations of Contemporary Indonesian Painters, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1994, p. 170-171).
The present work well illustrates the distinct qualities as explained by Astri Wright in the above quotation. The works of Hendra always reveal an individual with a zest for life and for nature. With the curvaceous female body splendidly enhanced with vivacious colours, the artist celebrates her role as a fish vendor with a dramatic effect that eroded the mundane nature of an otherwise ordinary work. The striking colours of the textiles of the subjects also conveyed a persistent message of Hendra's to his viewers, that of the omnipotence of the 'woman' who overwhelms the vast landscape of the country. Vast and majestic as the landscape is, it is the living woman, strong as a provider, loving as she nurses her children, that sustains the community.
The importance of women in the works of Hendra was discussed by Astri Wright, "Hendra's women are types, not clearly distinguishable individuals, and many interpretations of their roles and meanings are possible. At the most basic level, they are nourishing, nursing, mothering beauties, voluptuous and undulating bodies wrapped in brightly coloured cloth. Their forms are echoed by the forms of papayas, eggplants, and cucumbers. They are young and their long graceful arms, exaggerating the elegant hand movements that are so typically Javanese, contrast with their thick feet with widely spread toes - the feet of villagers and farmers. This way of depicting feet, as well as the use of exaggerated profiles, with long necks, protruding noses, and large eyes, echoes the stylization of human form found in wayang." (Ibid, p. 176). Clearly, the description of Hendra's favoured depiction of the female figure is observed in the present work.
The present work well illustrates the distinct qualities as explained by Astri Wright in the above quotation. The works of Hendra always reveal an individual with a zest for life and for nature. With the curvaceous female body splendidly enhanced with vivacious colours, the artist celebrates her role as a fish vendor with a dramatic effect that eroded the mundane nature of an otherwise ordinary work. The striking colours of the textiles of the subjects also conveyed a persistent message of Hendra's to his viewers, that of the omnipotence of the 'woman' who overwhelms the vast landscape of the country. Vast and majestic as the landscape is, it is the living woman, strong as a provider, loving as she nurses her children, that sustains the community.
The importance of women in the works of Hendra was discussed by Astri Wright, "Hendra's women are types, not clearly distinguishable individuals, and many interpretations of their roles and meanings are possible. At the most basic level, they are nourishing, nursing, mothering beauties, voluptuous and undulating bodies wrapped in brightly coloured cloth. Their forms are echoed by the forms of papayas, eggplants, and cucumbers. They are young and their long graceful arms, exaggerating the elegant hand movements that are so typically Javanese, contrast with their thick feet with widely spread toes - the feet of villagers and farmers. This way of depicting feet, as well as the use of exaggerated profiles, with long necks, protruding noses, and large eyes, echoes the stylization of human form found in wayang." (Ibid, p. 176). Clearly, the description of Hendra's favoured depiction of the female figure is observed in the present work.