Johor Baru - Malaysian artists are no longer starving, but now they have to contend with a problem worse than obscurity — forgery.
After decades of struggling to get their works appreciated, their paintings are now being snapped up by galleries here and abroad.
In fact, their fame has spread so far that forgers are faking their works for sale to unsuspecting collectors.
The boom is said to be due to the bullish economy and a heightened interest in Malay- sian art, which has pushed up thevalueof their work.
Industry sources said works by well-known Malaysian painters ranged from RM100,000 to RM120,000 per painting.
The demand is so great that some art galleries overseas have purchased their works in advance for future shows.
For instance, contemporary artist Yusof Ghani of Pontian has been engaged by a foreign gallery to produce 25 paintings for a show in Hong Kong next year.
The price of the paintings — RM1.2 million — was settled in advance even before Yusof put paint to canvas.
The huge demand from individual and institutional buyers, coupled with the irresistible prices and packages they offer, are a morale booster for painters who have long laboured unappreciated by Malaysians.
Art collector Farouk Khan said Malaysian paintings had achieved world-class standards.
‘In the field of fine art, the Malay painters are more outstanding, just like squash and badminton are world stage games for Malaysian sportsmen,‘ said Farouk, an art collector who owns some 600 paintings of local artists.
One of them is Shushylawati Suleiman, who has just returned after displaying her works at the Documenta Exhibition in Kassel, Germany.
She was the first Malaysian artist to be extended the honour for the event, the Oscars of the art industry.
Farouk is impressed with the growing art industry and the mushrooming number of young artists.
They include Shushi Suleiman, Choy Chun Wei, Yau Bee Ling, Chan Kok Hooi, Ivan Lam, Daud Rahim and Aswad Ameir.
Also influential are members of the Matahati group comprising Hamir Soib, Ahmad Fuad, Ahmad Shukri, Masnor Ramli and Bayu Utomo, all in their 30s.
‘They are the ‘rock‘ group of the art world. They are young talents who should become the model for new painters,‘ Farouk said.
Like CDs and VCDs, huge demand always breeds jealousy in the business world and encourages piracy.
Farouk and post-modernist artist Jailaini Abu Hassan were recently surprised when they saw a work, painted by the latter, in a photograph of a show apartment in Jakarta. Farouk owns the painting.
They are investigating whether the work was illegally loaned by a gallery or forged.
Farouk said the popularity of Malaysian paintings, both at home and abroad, had attracted pirates in the industry.
‘The dilemma of work protection is currently the concern of the local art industry.
‘People buy paintings because they have extra money. With the extra money, they want to develop their appreciation for culture and heritage, as reflected in the works of artists.‘
There is a fear that forgeries would hamper the development of painters, who often take several months to come up with an idea before they start painting.
However, Jailaini has a different view about forgery.
‘I would not worry that much because we are not even close to critical level. In other countries, forgery has a longer history and tradition and has become a major industry that is professionally run.
‘Sure, we have petty thieves here and there and bad replicas of originals but they are not even close to the originals.‘
Lim Wei Ling, the founder and director of Wei Ling Gallery, the biggest private gallery in the country, located in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, shares the same view.
She said Jailaini‘s case was probably the first involving a Malaysian painter whose work had been forged overseas.
‘Luckily, forgery does not occur in Malaysia. However, copycat activities among some young artists, or fresh graduates, are on the rise. I classify this as a form of cheating.‘
The works of Yusof, known for his ?Tari?, ?Wayang? and ?Topeng? series are not spared from forgery either. Three years ago, a local artist forged a piece from his ?Tari? series.
‘The buyer of that forged painting thought that the work belonged to me and was desperately trying to get me to sign it.
‘He was disappointed when I refused to sign it as it was not my work, although it was almost 90 per cent similar,‘ said Yusof.
‘He bought that small piece for RM15,000, when my original piece was sold at less than RM1,000. I could only feel sorry for him.‘
Yusof said art forgery was a recent phenomena in the industry which had caught many collectors by surprise.
He did not know if the works of artists had any legal protection.
Another form of forgery, said Farouk, was perpetrated by unscrupulous galleries.
‘These galleries commission young artists to forge certain paintings for them. The gallery owners want something cheap out of art. The young artists don‘t mind doing it as they need the money.‘
Farouk said local artists needed to know their rights and what to do to prevent forgeries of their works.
Source: www.nst.com (13 Agustus 2007)
