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Lot Essay
HENDRA GUNAWAN: CELEBRATING THE WOMEN OF INDONESIA
The female figure in Indonesian Art is a trope that pervades many of the works of the Modern Masters; from the elegant twisted forms of the Legong dancers in Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès' Balinese gardens to the calm serenity of the sepia-tinted basket weavers of Lee Man Fong's panels. The importance of the role of women in Southeast Asian culture and tradition is one that has similarly influenced the work of Indonesian artist Hendra Gunawan, whose batik-clad sinewy women have become an identifying visual trope in his body of work. Writing about this precise subject matter is critic Astri Wright who has commented, "Hendra's women are nourishing, nursing, mothering beauties, voluptuously busty, their undulating bodies wrapped in bright-coloured cloth. Their forms are echoed by the form of papayas, often competing with strutting eggplants and cucumbers. They are young and their long graceful arms, exaggerating the elegant hand movements that are so typically Indonesian, contrasting with their thick feet wide-spaced toes - the feet of villagers and farmers."
This season, Christie's is proud to present three works that celebrate the many facets of Hendra's female figures. In Kerokan (Lot 442), Hendra pays tribute to a broader sense of community amongst the Indonesian people through his depiction of two women practicing the traditional act of Kerokan on other. Kerokan is a traditional healing method in which the skin is scraped with oil and a smooth-edged instrument – often a coin – to remove impurities in the body. Such activities demonstrate their nurturing spirit, and the sense of sisterhood between the women of Hendra's world. Indeed, looking at Two Women on a Cliff (Lot 452), we feel a sense of privilege in witnessing a private moment between two women on a cliff. The way in which the patterns of the batik sarongs worn by these two figures and limbs intertwine suggests a closeness between them, their conversations a mysterious secret only the women share.
Despite Hendra's focus on the female figures, he also accords an importance to the landscape around his main characters. This is consistent with his artistic concerns in expressing his nationalistic fervour and love for his homeland in his art. He often includes dramatic backgrounds, such as the exaggeratedly knobbly lush viridian trees that flank a large body of water in Two Women on a Cliff. Landscape becomes not just accents to his works, but serve to heighten the dynamism of the scene through his unique programme of colours. Similarly, Women in An Idyllic Landscape (Lot 449) showcases the hardworking and communal spirit of Indonesian women, arms interlocked as they work together in the rice fields, and in the same way the artist uses this opportunity to feature the dream-like quality of the sensuous and majestic Indonesian highlands. These three lots are perfect examples of Hendra's passion for his people and country and perfectly demonstrate the way in which these themes have come to dominate his work.
The female figure in Indonesian Art is a trope that pervades many of the works of the Modern Masters; from the elegant twisted forms of the Legong dancers in Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès' Balinese gardens to the calm serenity of the sepia-tinted basket weavers of Lee Man Fong's panels. The importance of the role of women in Southeast Asian culture and tradition is one that has similarly influenced the work of Indonesian artist Hendra Gunawan, whose batik-clad sinewy women have become an identifying visual trope in his body of work. Writing about this precise subject matter is critic Astri Wright who has commented, "Hendra's women are nourishing, nursing, mothering beauties, voluptuously busty, their undulating bodies wrapped in bright-coloured cloth. Their forms are echoed by the form of papayas, often competing with strutting eggplants and cucumbers. They are young and their long graceful arms, exaggerating the elegant hand movements that are so typically Indonesian, contrasting with their thick feet wide-spaced toes - the feet of villagers and farmers."
This season, Christie's is proud to present three works that celebrate the many facets of Hendra's female figures. In Kerokan (Lot 442), Hendra pays tribute to a broader sense of community amongst the Indonesian people through his depiction of two women practicing the traditional act of Kerokan on other. Kerokan is a traditional healing method in which the skin is scraped with oil and a smooth-edged instrument – often a coin – to remove impurities in the body. Such activities demonstrate their nurturing spirit, and the sense of sisterhood between the women of Hendra's world. Indeed, looking at Two Women on a Cliff (Lot 452), we feel a sense of privilege in witnessing a private moment between two women on a cliff. The way in which the patterns of the batik sarongs worn by these two figures and limbs intertwine suggests a closeness between them, their conversations a mysterious secret only the women share.
Despite Hendra's focus on the female figures, he also accords an importance to the landscape around his main characters. This is consistent with his artistic concerns in expressing his nationalistic fervour and love for his homeland in his art. He often includes dramatic backgrounds, such as the exaggeratedly knobbly lush viridian trees that flank a large body of water in Two Women on a Cliff. Landscape becomes not just accents to his works, but serve to heighten the dynamism of the scene through his unique programme of colours. Similarly, Women in An Idyllic Landscape (Lot 449) showcases the hardworking and communal spirit of Indonesian women, arms interlocked as they work together in the rice fields, and in the same way the artist uses this opportunity to feature the dream-like quality of the sensuous and majestic Indonesian highlands. These three lots are perfect examples of Hendra's passion for his people and country and perfectly demonstrate the way in which these themes have come to dominate his work.