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Lot Essay
The works of Hendra Gunawan are etched in history as some of the most memorable scenes of daily Indonesian life. His works celebrate the daily lives of men, women and children in Indonesia. For Hendra, life begins with the existence of a community, and a consistent theme running through his paintings is of people at work, at play, performing rituals, in celebrations and occasionally in grief or suffering.
In 1935, Hendra Gunawan became one of the Kelompok Lima (Group of Five) artists in Bandung, West Java, where he also set up the Pusaka Sundan (Sundanese Heritage) organization. Hendra was a member of the Sanggar Pelukis Rakyat (People's Artists' Studio) in Yogyakarta, Central Java. This eventually led to his involvement in the communist sponsored Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat (Lekra, People's Culture Association) , and he was imprisoned in the aftermath of the abortive Indonesian communist coup in 1965. Hendra later was released in 1978 upon which he embarked on a new phase in his art marked by the use of a brighter, fresher colour palette.
Christie's is pleased to offer two works of Hendra Gunawan this season markedly different in subject matter. Pedagang Kambing dan Nangka (Goat and Jackfruit Seller) is vividly coloured, a testament to the natural colourist that Hendra Gunawan is. Beyond the apparent transaction between shopper and seller here, the picture resonates with immediacy and emotion in Hendra's portrayal of a close moment of connection between two human beings, a man and a woman. The figure of the man is resplendently finished, with Hendra's signature broad, colourful unbroken brushwork adding an intricate band of decorative detail to the painted figure. His right feet planted ahead of him on the jackfruits, the man reduces the distance between himself and the woman. The woman's head is tilted towards the man, her expression one of undivided attention and interest. Hendra Gunawan, ever the consummate painter of people, hints here at the possibility of a closer connection between the two painted figures.
Pemandangan Indah (A Beautiful Landscape) is a work of Hendra dating to the 1950s and 60s where Hendra explores the relationship between man and environment. In this body of works, human figures are conspicuously reduced to an element of the larger landscape where the monumental structures of Nature - the mountain in the distance, the lake, the towering century-old trees - nestle humans and their settlements in a harmonious landscape. Pemandangan Indah (A Beautiful Landscape) thus expresses the idealised Indonesian life in Hendra Gunawan's worldview.
In 1935, Hendra Gunawan became one of the Kelompok Lima (Group of Five) artists in Bandung, West Java, where he also set up the Pusaka Sundan (Sundanese Heritage) organization. Hendra was a member of the Sanggar Pelukis Rakyat (People's Artists' Studio) in Yogyakarta, Central Java. This eventually led to his involvement in the communist sponsored Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat (Lekra, People's Culture Association) , and he was imprisoned in the aftermath of the abortive Indonesian communist coup in 1965. Hendra later was released in 1978 upon which he embarked on a new phase in his art marked by the use of a brighter, fresher colour palette.
Christie's is pleased to offer two works of Hendra Gunawan this season markedly different in subject matter. Pedagang Kambing dan Nangka (Goat and Jackfruit Seller) is vividly coloured, a testament to the natural colourist that Hendra Gunawan is. Beyond the apparent transaction between shopper and seller here, the picture resonates with immediacy and emotion in Hendra's portrayal of a close moment of connection between two human beings, a man and a woman. The figure of the man is resplendently finished, with Hendra's signature broad, colourful unbroken brushwork adding an intricate band of decorative detail to the painted figure. His right feet planted ahead of him on the jackfruits, the man reduces the distance between himself and the woman. The woman's head is tilted towards the man, her expression one of undivided attention and interest. Hendra Gunawan, ever the consummate painter of people, hints here at the possibility of a closer connection between the two painted figures.
Pemandangan Indah (A Beautiful Landscape) is a work of Hendra dating to the 1950s and 60s where Hendra explores the relationship between man and environment. In this body of works, human figures are conspicuously reduced to an element of the larger landscape where the monumental structures of Nature - the mountain in the distance, the lake, the towering century-old trees - nestle humans and their settlements in a harmonious landscape. Pemandangan Indah (A Beautiful Landscape) thus expresses the idealised Indonesian life in Hendra Gunawan's worldview.