Jakarta - Little-known Indonesian artists such as Heri Purwanto and D.S. Teddy may soon rival rising stars like I. Nyoman Masriadi and Agus Suwage if yesterday`s auction results in Jakarta are any indication.
Collectors at a sale by Sidharta Auctioneers paid a combined 607 million rupiah ($66,000) for 146 paintings mainly by emerging artists such as Teddy and Purwanto, 33. Purwanto`s “Tangga Langit,`` or ladder to the sky, fetched 15 million rupiah, while Teddy`s untitled oil on canvas sold for 14 million rupiah.
“Some people looking for younger artists are actually speculating,`` said Amir Sidharta, chairman of the Jakarta-based auction house. “They figure, they may be able to re-sell it.``
Prices of Indonesian art have jumped after Southeast Asia`s largest economy expanded at 6.3 percent in 2007, the fastest pace in 11 years. Masriadi`s “Angels,`` which failed to sell for 10 million rupiah at Sidharta Auctioneers` sale in 2006, fetched HK$240,000 ($30,831) the following year at Christie`s International in Hong Kong, Sidharta said yesterday in an interview in Jakarta.
At Sidharta`s sale yesterday, Basuki Bawono`s Lonely,`` fetched 16 million rupiah, the highest price at the sale. Basuki, 59, specializes in painting women, said Sidharta. In a second auction of contemporary Indonesian works in Jakarta yesterday, Treasures Auction House raised 1.1 billion rupiah, led by Men Sagan`s ``Man and Cockerel,`` the top lot at 32 million rupiah.
At a March 9 sale by Larasati Auctioneers of 199 Indonesian artworks in Jakarta, Suwage`s “a. Visi b. Info`` emerged as the top lot, fetching $52,444, close to four times the piece`s pre- sale estimate, according to Larasati`s Web site.
Catching Up
Prices for contemporary Indonesian art still lag behind those for Indian and Chinese works, making them more attractive to speculators. In October, Yue Minjun`s “Execution,`` a painting based on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests fetched 2.9 million pounds ($5.8 million) in London, an auction record for a single Chinese contemporary art painting.
Sotheby`s, which is conducting an auction of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian paintings on April 8, expects to sell Masriadi`s “Paparazzi`` and Suwage`s “Primitive Instinct,`` for HK$200,000 each, while the late Affandi`s “Borobodur`` may fetch HK$1 million, according to the auction house`s catalog.
Indonesian artist Hendra Gunawan`s “Street Musicians,`` fetched $468,000 at an auction in May 27, while Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain`s “Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabharata,`` sold for $1.6 million on March 20, the highest for any Indian painting.
Source: www.bloomberg.com (1 April 2008)