Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta
Siauw Tik Kwie (aka Otto Swastika, 1913-1988) and Lim Tjoe Ing (1922-1996) devoted their lives to art in this country. They are remembered by their work, much of which is in the hands of various collectors or kept in galleries at home and abroad. Much of the remainder has been kept by their surviving relatives.
In memory of the two important realist painting figures, Vanessa Art House is, for the first time, showing their work to the public in an exhibition, Two Towers. Inaugurated by Tossin Himawan, a collector and director of PT Astra, the exhibition displays some 60 oil paintings on canvases of various sizes, dated from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Vanessa, the owner of the art house, said the exhibition was aimed at re-introducing the artists' realist work, particularly to the young generation.
""I'm afraid that without this exhibition the younger generation will know nothing about these two important figures and their realist work,"" said Vanessa.
It is understood that young people from Indonesia's present fine art community are drawn more to contemporary work. As a result, noncontemporary work, including realist paintings from the modern era, has been virtually ignored.
Against this backdrop, the ongoing exhibition of Siauw's and Lim's paintings has become significant. It is a way of ensuring the survival of their realist work.
Siauw's realist and photographic work is generally a reflection of his admiration for nature. With his excellent mastery of technical skill, he successfully recorded on his canvases -- both small and large -- what Mother Nature has to offer. His use of color can express time, the tropical weather, a situation, a reaction to what he saw and felt. His objects are human beings, trees, the sea, mountains, rocks, boats, houses, rice fields, horses and flowers.
Take a look, for example, at his paintings, Panorama of Lake Toba (1986), Tanah Lot (1987), Cibulan (1986), Sitting Man (1965), Balinese Lass (1982), Four Horses (1971) and Seashore Flowers (1971).
Meanwhile, Lim's works reflect a more popular atmosphere, although he also painted natural panorama, flowers and dances. This popular atmosphere can be seen through ordinary people at work as the object of his paintings. These people include cattle breeders, herdsmen, cow traders and coachmen.
Lim wanted to present the work ethos of the ordinary people he often met in Java (he said as much in an interview). In a painting, Cow Traders (1989), Lim was able to portray the impression of busy activity the cow traders were engaged in when herding their cattle. The details of the faces of four cow traders were no longer important. His choice of color was limited -- gray, broken white, black, brown and a little orange -- but this limited choice made the work ethos he wanted to get across easily visible.
In Goat Herdsman (1993), we can feel the patience of the herdsman. In Goat Market 1 (1992) he portrays bargaining activity, something we can no longer find now, as fixed prices prevail in supermarkets, malls and department stores. Another work by Lim, Cart (1991), implies that responsibility brings welfare to the cows that pull the cart.
In some respects, the work of Siauw and Lim shares something in common, as both found themselves in the relationship of master and pupil. Lim, who later changed his name to Abdi Salim, used to learn painting from Siauw. During the Second World War, Siauw lived in Surakarta and taught at Sanggar Pelangi (Rainbow Studio). Afterwards, each of them went their own separate way.
Apart from being a painter, Lim was also known as a sculptor and art designer for the stage dcor of Dardanella play group. His work can still be seen on the ceiling of Mangkunegaran Palace, Surakarta. Lim abandoned fine art for a decade as he was busy in politics as a member of Surakarta legislative assembly (1966 through 1971), representing the Indonesian Christian Party. In 1978, then vice president Adam Malik asked him to compile a book, later titled Paintings in Adam Malik's Collection.
As for Siauw, he was a self-made artist at first. It was not until the 1930s, when he moved to Jakarta, that he joined the Bataviasche Kunstring and took painting lessons from H.V. Velthusyen. He was also famous for Sie Jin Kui, a comic made at the order of PK Ojong (the founder of Kompas daily) for publication as a series in Star Weekly, from 1954 through 1961. Under the name Otto Swastika, Siauw translated a 17-volume book of Javanese philosophy by Ki Ageng Suryomentaram. This Javanese philosophy later permeated his soul and work.
These two realist painters are no longer with us now, but their surviving work always reminds us to take good care of nature and remain oriented to populist ideals. Unfortunately, nature and the populist ideals have been increasingly forgotten in this egoistic era, because the reform drive has been carried out only in name, while corruption, collusion and nepotism have become deeply entrenched in the nation.
The exhibition runs from April 17 through May 7, at Vanessa Art House, Pantai Indah Kapuk Mediterania, Blok Z 14 No 5 Jakarta, tel. 5883710/11
