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Lot Essay
As described by Astri Wright, “Although his style and colors 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 LEKRA.”
Hendra’s ingrained interest in the celebration of plain humanity is profoundly romanticized and glorified in his works. In the midst of social upheaval and political shifts, painting the people in contexts of work and play, in struggles and celebration, with its wayang like silhouettes in glorious colors has somewhat become the artist’s effort in maintaining his individuality while simultaneously reassuring the nation’s identity.
Throughout his career Hendra Gunawan favored portrayals of women and brought forth otherwise ordinary nebulous moments of the everyday village life to masterfully capture the spirit of his archipelago home. Born to rural life himself in a small village outside of Bandung, West Java, it is no wonder that he drew time and time from his own humble beginnings and bestowed upon his protagonists an unmistakable sense of humanity.
Beautifully composing scenes of everyday life, the Hendra elevates and celebrates the mundane. The subject of this painting, Penjual Baju, is exemplary of Hendra’s themes from the 1950s. The work depicts a young female merchant selling batik and other apparels to a middle aged woman. By virtue of the composition, Hendra invites us to view this scene from the vendor's perspective. We are provided with the full view of the merchant, seeing her crouching on the ground while actively selling her items. Displaying her wares with an open gesture, a green fabric visibly tucked in between her elbow and her body, and her mouth open in conversation, Hendra illustrates a dynamic transaction between the seller and the buyer. Hendra hence situates us within a bustling market scene, and captures the energy and colour of the social and economic transactions taking place.
With the expert use of varying tones and colours, Hendra draws a distinction between the two central figures in the scene – that of the clothes seller, and her customer. We are immediately struck by the difference in skin tone between the two women. The fair skin of the patron contrasts subtly against the tanned visage of the merchant. With a great attention to detail, Hendra further differentiates these characters through their dress. The merchant is clothed in duller, earthen tones, while her patron is regaled in pastel hues. The opaque nature of the merchant’s dress shows up as rough and unrefined against the delicate transparency and embroidered detail of her customer. With these details and distinctions, Hendra adds a layer of commentary about social and class division in Indonesian society, providing a depth and meaning to the painting that goes beyond aesthetic accomplishment.
Beyond the central figures of buyer and seller, Hendra offers us a full cast of characters each in colourful dress and balancing out the jewel-toned fabrics that take up the lower left quadrant of the composition. The pink headscarf of the woman in the background acts as a visual counterpoint to the layering of colours in the lower left, and serves to further focus our attention on the central dynamic between the two main characters. The movement of this scene is further amplified by Hendra’s layering of colors. Three-dimensional depth is achieved through this layering, while distance and perspective is suggested through the application of paler shades in the background and richer shades in the foreground.
The artist has certainly liberated his works from the conventional European definition of beauty. Where the European tradition was concerned with the representation of beauty as unblemished, pure and lacking imperfection, Hendra illustrates female beauty in a more authentic form. As discussed by Astri Wright, “In his canvases, women are active, strong, nurturing and beautiful; they are also worn and sick (but carrying on), sociable (but framing their relationships in their own terms), hardworking (and not only in typically ‘feminine’ professions), and feisty.”
There is a rawness and immediacy to Hendra’s figures from this early period of the 1950s as compared to his starkly vibrant and increasingly stylized forms of his later works. Colours are used generously and in the most idiosyncratic manner that are regarded as the artist's signature style. Penjual Baju is an excellent example of the timeless quality of Hendra’s early works as the scene remains fresh and vibrant in both colour and movement. In this composition, Hendra simultaneously captures the struggles and beauty of daily life.
Hendra’s ingrained interest in the celebration of plain humanity is profoundly romanticized and glorified in his works. In the midst of social upheaval and political shifts, painting the people in contexts of work and play, in struggles and celebration, with its wayang like silhouettes in glorious colors has somewhat become the artist’s effort in maintaining his individuality while simultaneously reassuring the nation’s identity.
Throughout his career Hendra Gunawan favored portrayals of women and brought forth otherwise ordinary nebulous moments of the everyday village life to masterfully capture the spirit of his archipelago home. Born to rural life himself in a small village outside of Bandung, West Java, it is no wonder that he drew time and time from his own humble beginnings and bestowed upon his protagonists an unmistakable sense of humanity.
Beautifully composing scenes of everyday life, the Hendra elevates and celebrates the mundane. The subject of this painting, Penjual Baju, is exemplary of Hendra’s themes from the 1950s. The work depicts a young female merchant selling batik and other apparels to a middle aged woman. By virtue of the composition, Hendra invites us to view this scene from the vendor's perspective. We are provided with the full view of the merchant, seeing her crouching on the ground while actively selling her items. Displaying her wares with an open gesture, a green fabric visibly tucked in between her elbow and her body, and her mouth open in conversation, Hendra illustrates a dynamic transaction between the seller and the buyer. Hendra hence situates us within a bustling market scene, and captures the energy and colour of the social and economic transactions taking place.
With the expert use of varying tones and colours, Hendra draws a distinction between the two central figures in the scene – that of the clothes seller, and her customer. We are immediately struck by the difference in skin tone between the two women. The fair skin of the patron contrasts subtly against the tanned visage of the merchant. With a great attention to detail, Hendra further differentiates these characters through their dress. The merchant is clothed in duller, earthen tones, while her patron is regaled in pastel hues. The opaque nature of the merchant’s dress shows up as rough and unrefined against the delicate transparency and embroidered detail of her customer. With these details and distinctions, Hendra adds a layer of commentary about social and class division in Indonesian society, providing a depth and meaning to the painting that goes beyond aesthetic accomplishment.
Beyond the central figures of buyer and seller, Hendra offers us a full cast of characters each in colourful dress and balancing out the jewel-toned fabrics that take up the lower left quadrant of the composition. The pink headscarf of the woman in the background acts as a visual counterpoint to the layering of colours in the lower left, and serves to further focus our attention on the central dynamic between the two main characters. The movement of this scene is further amplified by Hendra’s layering of colors. Three-dimensional depth is achieved through this layering, while distance and perspective is suggested through the application of paler shades in the background and richer shades in the foreground.
The artist has certainly liberated his works from the conventional European definition of beauty. Where the European tradition was concerned with the representation of beauty as unblemished, pure and lacking imperfection, Hendra illustrates female beauty in a more authentic form. As discussed by Astri Wright, “In his canvases, women are active, strong, nurturing and beautiful; they are also worn and sick (but carrying on), sociable (but framing their relationships in their own terms), hardworking (and not only in typically ‘feminine’ professions), and feisty.”
There is a rawness and immediacy to Hendra’s figures from this early period of the 1950s as compared to his starkly vibrant and increasingly stylized forms of his later works. Colours are used generously and in the most idiosyncratic manner that are regarded as the artist's signature style. Penjual Baju is an excellent example of the timeless quality of Hendra’s early works as the scene remains fresh and vibrant in both colour and movement. In this composition, Hendra simultaneously captures the struggles and beauty of daily life.