Paintings by Raden Saleh, the maestro of Indonesian art, have once again made a splash in the Asian art world. Recently, two rare paintings by the famous artist, which had never been exhibited to the public, were sold for fantastic prices at Sotheby’s Singapore auction house.
In the auction, which took place in conjunction with the Singapore Art Week event, the two paintings titled Javanese Landscape: View of Merbabu and Merapi and Javanese Landscape: View of Talagabodas sold for IDR 24.4 billion and IDR 7.7 billion, respectively.
The first painting sold for almost the highest estimate from the auction house, which had predicted it would reach IDR 26 billion. Meanwhile, the second painting sold for more than double its initial estimate of IDR 1.5 billion to IDR 3.3 billion.
The 19th-century view of Talagabodas sold for around IDR 7.7 billion after a 10-minute bidding war.
According to Sotheby’s Singapore, this auction was one of the highlights of Southeast Asian art earlier this year, with nearly 90% of the artworks sold.
Jasmine Prasetio, Managing Director of Sotheby’s Southeast Asia, said that over the past week, the company welcomed collectors and enthusiasts who gathered in Singapore for the prestigious art fair. “The strong demand for Southeast Asian collections is reflected in the results as we finalize auctions and set other benchmarks in these city-states, marking auction highlights for pioneering artists from the region,” he remarked.
In addition to Raden Saleh’s works, a number of other works by Indonesian artists, including Christine Ay Tjoe, S. Sudjojono, and I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, also sold for fantastic prices at the auction.
Raden Saleh Profile
Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman, better known as Raden Saleh, was born near Semarang, in Terboyo. The exact year of his birth remains unclear. On a self-portrait painting, Raden Saleh wrote May 1811, but in a letter, he once mentioned 1814.
Raden Saleh displayed his talent for drawing early on, even while attending Volks-School. By the age of 12 or 15, his artistic talent caught the attention of A.A.J. Payen, a Belgian painter. At that time, Payen had come to Indonesia to assist Prof. Reinwardt, the founder of the Bogor Botanical Garden and Director of Agriculture, Arts, and Sciences for Java and the surrounding islands during the Dutch colonial administration.
Raden Saleh sailed to the Netherlands in 1829. Although he initially had no intention of staying long in the Netherlands, he eventually decided to stay for two years to study lithography, arithmetic, and the Dutch language.
Raden Saleh became the first Asian artist to receive professional training in Europe. He gained recognition as a painter at the European royal courts and institutions. His landscape paintings epitomize European Romanticism and often depict the majesty and mystery of nature, emphasizing the sublime power of nature to evoke deep emotional responses in art lovers.
Raden Saleh’s fame continued to grow, with many famous works, such as The Capture of Prince Diponegoro, Drinking Tiger, Fighting with Lion, and Hunting Bull.
Over the past 30 years, around 10 of Raden Saleh’s paintings have been auctioned off. His works are part of the collections of prestigious museums and institutions, including the National Gallery Singapore and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
