CHAPTER 9

The Great Debate

Whither Indonesian Culture?

THE DEVELOPMENT of modern art in Indonesia, as In the debate of the thirties (1935-1939) Takdir
a facet of cultural change, is, of course, a part of the Alisjahbana opened the argument and then answered
broader question about the future direction in which his opponents as they expressed their views. His open-
Indonesian culture would develop. This question has ing salvo was a call to transform Indonesia's "static"
been passionately debated by the country's leading in- society into a "dynamic" one by adopting Western at-
tellectuals for more than three decades. At the roots titudes and techniques. Takdir took the position that
of the debate is the confrontation of the "East" with everything that preceded the development of a national
the "West." Is modernization equivalent to Westerniza- consciousness was not actually Indonesian, but "pre-
tion? Does the adoption of Western technology mean Indonesian"-that there was a vast difference between
acceptance of Western cultural values, institutions, art the localism of ancient cultures and the modern aspira-
forms? Could the "good" clements in Western culture tion for an all-Indonesian national culture. (The de-
be assimilated and everything harmful or debasing be bate excluded political visions: a national state could
rejected? Would it be possible to select only certain not be mentioned since disapproval by the Netherlands
needed techniques to improve material welfare without Indies government could have cut short the polemics.)
forgoing Indonesia's spiritual heritage? Isn't Indonesia Takdir pointed to foreign cultural inHuences in the
in danger of losing its cultural identity? past, from India, from the Arab world, which had en-
Writers, poets, scholars, educators, and politicians riched rather than impoverished the culture of the In-
participated in what is known as the "Polemics on Cul- donesian islands. "And now the time has arrived," he
ture" (Polemik Kebudajaan), which burst into print said, "when we turn our eyes to the West." It was due
in 1935. 1 Essentially the same debate is continuing to Western education and contact with Western ideas,
now, in changing circumstances and with new partici- in fact, that the concept of national unity was born in
pants. The issues are obscured, first, because the debate Indonesia, he claimed. He foresaw that Western in-
unfolds against a background of Indonesia's own in- Huences would play an even stronger role in Indonesia
ternal cultural diversity, largely disregarded by the than Indian and Islamic ones had in the past. 2
participants, but sometimes reHected in their own In answer, the writer Sanusi Pane pointed to con-
modes of thought. Second, outside Indonesia, that tinuity in history. It was not possible to create a new
crucial part of the world lumped under the general culture suddenly, he held, the present leans on and is
term "the West" has been growing more complex and built out of the past. As for the potential inHuence of
diverse especially with the advent of the cold war. the West, "European culture Hourishes on materialism,
Third, Islam, to which many Indonesians look for intellectualism, and individualism," he said. "Its econ-
guidance, has been affected by reformist movements. omy expands by developing industry, trade, and mod-
In addition, many of the propounded concepts and ern imperialism . . . . Individualism breeds boundless
ideas are loaded more with emotion than with precise competition in the economic sphere. In art, the goal is
meaning. But the debate itself was and is significant art pour l'art." Yet, with all of Europe's attainments in
and inevitable under the pressure of cultural change. economic development, "There are people with over-
[ 211]
 [ 212] MODERN ART

abundance and people who are hungry." Pane further welcoming the debate as a healthy and much needed
argued that "in the East . . . materialism, intellec- airing of views, warned that "the Westerners know not
tualism, and individualism are not needed so much. patience and never enjoy peace of heart." While study-
Man is not forced to combat nature in trying to master ing the West's philosophy and adopting some of its
it. He feels himself in unity with the world around techniques, a people can still retain their cultural origi-
him . . . ." The highest attainment aspired to in India nality and need not go through the bitter experiences
as well as in Indonesia, Pane held, was mystic: "Man of the West. Mockingly, he pointed out that in
in unity with the universe denies his physical desires European schools, where individualism and patriotism
and purifies his spirit." The West, stressing physical are stressed, children are encouraged to become out-
welfare, forgets the spirit, "it is like Faust." The East standing people, heroes. Indonesian children are taught
cherishes the spirit, forgetting the body, "it is like in schools about Dutch heroes. Will they strive to be-
Ardjuna meditating on Mt. lndrakila." 3 come a second Jan Pieterzoon Coen or a second Van
In reply to these and similar contentions, Takdir Heutz?* 6
Alisjahbana vehemently and repeatedly tried to shat- The educator, writer, and editor Raden Sutomo, pur-
ter the old cliches about East and West. He com- suing the subject of education, stressed the difference
plained, for example, "we have not yet developed the between schooling, pengadjaran, and guidance in con-
habit of conducting polemics which would penetrate duct and values, or upbringing-pendidikan. Western
to the very roots of an issue." He continued: teaching, he held, does not provide moral guidance but
the two must go together. The result of Western edu-
. . . Such phrases as "imitating the West" and "traditions
of the East" have become stereotypes, used lightly and cation is an uprooting of the individual. He cited sev-
without the slightest notion of their true meaning. While eral leading personalities-Tjipto Mangunkusumo, Su-
the worp "West" seems to be associated with cruelty, greed, karno, Tjokroaminoto, and Hadji Agus Salim-who,
selfishness, and materialism, "East" is a sacred (magic) he said, after painfully experiencing rootlessness as
word containing all fine qualities, peacefulness, humanism, the result of Western education, had to retrain them-
religiousness, and practically everything that is beautiful selves, "their spirits," as Easterners:
and noble. People indeed forget that since time immemorial
good and evil existed in equal measure everywhere; that Tjipto, for instance, "slept" with the Bhagawad Gita.
greed, selfishness, war, oppression, and other evils are not And in his daily life he always displayed the virtues of a
exclusively a Western monopoly and that, in reverse, fine true ksatriya.
sensibilities, peacefulness, religiousness, etc. are found not Sukarno, while making propaganda, reveals his "Javan-
only in the East. For that matter, up to the present, the ism" by citing examples from Wayang Purwa, so much so
twentieth century, there still are in India, which is much that people in other islands get annoyed.
admired by many Indonesians, eighty million people who The late Tjokroaminoto and Agus Salim based their
are despised and oppressed in a manner that would be dif- ideas on Islam, while Samaun and Muso, the Communist
ficult to find in the colonial history of the West. People leaders, very much like to be ascetics and gurus. . . .
also forget that the Western technology and science the)' Acquisition of Western knowledge may easily lead to
want cannot be separated in any way from Western philos- superficiality, Sutomo warned. "Looking ahead" is
ophy, art, customs-in short, from the Western way and
fine, provided one first "looked back.'' 7
view of life. It is not likely that airplanes, well-equipped
Adinegoro, journalist and editor, making a distinc-
hospitals, efficient banks, or rationalized agriculture would
spring from such spirits as Gandhi's or Tagore's.• tion between "culture" and "civilization," asserted that
"the culture of the East cannot be changed to resemble
Between these two extreme positions, other, milder that of the West, but the civilizations of the two can
voices spoke up. The scholar Poerbatjaraka, urging the become the same." Japan, he thought was a good ex-
study of Indonesian history, believed that full orienta- ample of a combination of an Eastern culture with
tion to the West was dangerous. He summed up his ar- Western civilization. Indonesia's leading intellectuals
gument by saying: "Don't be obsessed with our ancient must become "culture-philosophers," he thought. They
culture nor intoxicated by the West. Get to know both must discover a way, that is, to preserve harmony in
well, and choose from each that which is good so that these circumstances. 8
we can apply it successfully in times to come.'' 5 * A governor of the East India Company and a Dutch gen-
Similarly, the newspaper editor Tjindarbumi, while eral who ruthlessly conquered and pacified parts of Indonesia.
 THE GREAT DEBATE [213]
Harmony is the keynote of Javanese philosophy of bate and indirectly was relevant to the visual arts, since
life. The late Ki Hadjar Dewantara believed that hu- orthodox Moslems could not possibly sanction "the
man desires are but cogs in the Universal Machine. making of images." An interesting footnote in this con-
The individual's will is subject to "the laws of cause nection is a remark by a young painter, who was a
and effect," which he identified with the Indian con- leader of a Moslem student organization. He observed
ception of Karma. Change is inevitable and, con- that abstract art was very congenial to the Islamic spirit.
fronted with it, people are always ambivalent-deplor- Communist ideology presented a greater challenge
ing loss of the old, yet welcoming the new as a libera- than before. The establishment of the Communist-
tion. Though man is only a small part of the universal sponsored cultural organization Lekra, in 1950,
will, he still can give direction to the era, participate in quickened the penetration of Communist infl.uence
shaping his world. "God is within us." With these into the art world. Voices arose condemning Western
cosmological premises established, Dewantoro goes on infl.uences as harmful since they introduced cosmopoli-
to say that the future of Indonesia must be heeded lest tanism as opposed to nationalism, and individualism
its culture become petrified. While admitting that he as against a social consciousness. 12 They demanded that
leaned toward Pane's outlook, he thought that his dif- art be in the service of social enlightenment, especially
ferences with Alisjahbana could be bridged." of peasants and workers, and be rooted in folk life, de-
Dr. M. Amir, physician and psychiatrist, had simi- picting social reality.
lar views. He said: Marxist-socialist terminology was used in Indonesia
not only by the Communists. President Sukarno used it
I myself was a student of a Western school . . . from himself and so did his followers. So the poet Sitar
the first to the last grade. I was able to study Western so-
Situmorang, who represented the artists in The Peo-
ciety not only in our country but also, for many years, in
Europe. No one could accuse me of despising Western ple's Provisional Consultative Congress (Madjelis
science, art, and culture. Yet I am convinced that the Permusjawaratan Rakjat Sementara), speaking in 1960,
spirtual development of our people-though our minds be condemned "bourgeois and individualist esthetics." He
sharpened in laboratories, in the Western manner-will praised social realism, which, he claimed, provided an
progress along its own lines as in Japan, China, and India. answer to the problem of art dedicated to national de-
There, though Western-oriented, the culture in essence velopment. He said: 'The ideal of great art is a long-
certainly retained its own Eastern base. Once more, it does ing for a National Tradition." 13
not matter if we use spoons and forks, machines and tools Actually, the longing Sitor spoke of preoccupied
from the West. It's no mistake to read Shakespeare, Dante, not only the followers of Sukarno. The phantom of a
and Goethe. It's very beneficial to admire the figures of "national spirit" hovered over everyone concerned with
Rembrandt and Da Vinci. We are delighted to hear the
Indonesia's future since the beginning of the revolu-
music of Beethoven and Wagner. Yet we must seek an
tion. The visions of Indonesia's ancient, traditional
art of our own, a culture of our own, a literature of our
own. 10 arts, distinctly identifiable in content and form as Indo-
As long as national ideals live on in the East, moving nesian, were haunting. Why couldn't a modern art be
toward the West is not dangerous.U evolved that would also be distinctly Indonesian?
Even Takdir Alisjahbana eventually responded to
T akdir Alisjahbana tirelessly analyzed and refuted his this longing. No longer the young, intrepid challenger
opponents' arguments, pleading for a more positive of his compatriots, especially the traditionalists, he felt
orientation. Then the prospects of World War II and free in 1960 to recognize openly that Indonesia's cul-
its actual outbreak interrupted the cultural debate in tural character should be preserved. He wrote:
print. It continued, however, among the intellectuals,
Indonesia's traditional artistic skills, her sense of form
in thoughts and conversations during the Japanese oc-
and colour, and her unique cast of thought can all be used
cupation. After the war, the debate was resumed at
to give life to the abstract ideals and values of the new
meetings and in print. era, though these uses may well be very different from
With the establishment of the Indonesian Republic, and even in conflict with the values and ideals of the
the conservative Moslems insisted that the state and its past. . . .
culture be based on the precepts of Islam. This con- The core of the problem is to shift our cultural patri-
tributed a heavy strand of argument to the general de- mony and pick out those elements which can be fully in-
 [ 214] MODERN ART

tegrated into a new modern culture, which will itself pro- paintings, though ethnographically correct, might have
duce new values, new attitudes to life, new perspectives, that sentimental flavor against which the Persagi
and new ways of thinking and acting. From another angle group revolted. Furthermore, there are, for example,
one could describe the processes as smuggling new con- the works of some Chinese artists resident in Indonesia
cepts and ideals into those old "forms" that are still rele-
who paint local themes. But in their works there is a
vant to the modern age: or more simply still, we must re-
distinctly Chinese flavor-in the composition lines
interpret our traditional heritage.
and colors. A scene of Bali by the renowned L~e Ma~
And specifically about art, he says: Fong seems enveloped in sandy dust instead of lush
In the field of art, the range of experiment is enormous. tropical greenery. Are the colors a criterion? Perhaps.
There are so many skills, styles, and materials inherited Didn't Sudjojono say "these are our colors" though
from the older culture which can be turned to successful he didn't specify which? Indeed, there are outspoken
use in the new. I am thinking in particular of the crafts- predilections for certain colors among Indonesians.
manship of the Balinese sculptors and carvers, the dances of Many will agree that they are magenta pinks, purples,
Bali and Java, the vivid colour sense of the Toradja, the
aquamarines, and orange-yellows, apart from those
art of batik, the wayang puppets, etc. If these traditional
colors traditionally preferred in regional costumes.
arts and crafts can be taught in the schools alongside the
scientific knowledge, and the values and mental cate- There seems to be another, less tangible ingredient.
gories developed by modern culture, there is every reason When the painter Salim, who lives and works in Paris
to hope that the two cultural elements will produce in the and is for all purposes a Parisian artist, came to Indo-
talented and gifted student a synthesis of the artistic trends nesia in 1956 for a visit, he exclaimed reproachfully,
of our times flavoured with something peculiarly lndo- "There is not a drop of Indonesian emotion in your
nesian.14 work!" He was addressing young painters of the Ban-
This view seems fairly close to the official govern- dung school. And the question came up-what is this
ment policy and even exceeds it by suggesting that specifically Indonesian emotion?
traditional arts be taught in the schools. Alisjahbana Sukarno's reaction, "This is not Indonesian enough,"
was still thinking in wide international perspective but or uprooted Salim's yearning for "Indonesian emotion"
crystallizing his attitudes in favor of unity and diversity in art is very understandable. They long for an art that
in the world. The views of ultranationalists, in con- couldn't happen elsewhere but in Indonesia; an art
trast, were turned inward. permeated by that elusive component that would make
After the attainment of independence, the extreme viewing it a homecoming, give them a feeling of "yes,
nationalists clung for guidance to the political philoso- this is mine," which would strike a chord of deep recog-
phy of the state. For them it was no longer a matter of nition and yet be more-a revelation.
"East" and "West." Instead of discussing the culture The problem of style in the arts is intimately linked
of the East they now focused narrowly on "Indonesian- with the quest for a national cultural identity; the con-
ism." They used President Sukarno's Five Principles troversies about the direction which art in Indonesia
of the State, the Pantjasila, and later his other formu~ should take become clearer in the light of the general
lations, as the guidelines for cultural discourse. During cultural debate. The exhilaration fired by the sense of
a cultural congress in 195 I, Mr.* M. N asroen asserted national cohesion which the revolution had produced
that "Indonesianism" is urgently needed in art as well seemed to promise, perhaps to include, a self-under-
as in art criticism: "All art criticism, subjective as it stood Indonesian national image. Indonesian society in
may be, must be based nevertheless on nationalism the post-revolutionary period, however, gradually en-
and Indonesianism." It was the duty of the government, tered a sort of vacuum where it could only cling to the
Nasroen held, to promote this "nationalism in art." 1 " same, but now ebbing, elan of revolutionary national-
Yet nobody can clearly state what national modern ism. But the focus around which revolutionary cohe-
art is or ought to be. What are the criteria? Is it sub- sion and ardor had once formed-the enemy-had dis-
ject? Decidedly not. For didn't or do not some painters, appeared. Freedom notwithstanding, there were no
foreign as well as Indonesian, paint local scenes and new positive values sufficiently crystallized to nourish
types with an utterly "un-Indonesian" effect? Such or support the individual more than the generalized
* Mr. is not Mister but the Dutch title Meester held by and vague principles of the Pantja Sila (see p. 202
attorneys-at-law. above). President Sukarno probably diagnosed and
 THE GREAT DEBATE [215]

voiced the greatest need of young Indonesians in this not only a traditional, hereditary lord of the domain,
acute stage of transition from an old to a new order, but also a modern statesman who participates in na-
when in 1959 he elevated the concept of kepribadian tional affairs. In his own "Special Region" he is con-
nasional (national personality or identity) as the cen- cerned with efficient administration, the spread of edu-
tral principle for the state's policies (see below, p. 248). cation, development of industry, and the cultivation of
The assertion of the Indonesian state's identity has the arts.
probably been the mainspring of the President's inter- The first university created by the Republic was in
national policies. Internally, the whole cultural debate, Jogjakarta, the University of Gadjah Mada, which
including the problems besetting the field of modern opened in 1946. Young people soon Hocked there from
art, revolved around this point. all parts of Indonesia, and Jogja became a city of stu-
Many artists, however, pursued their own ways with- dents. Lacking other quarters, the university, at the
out consideration of the ideological or philosophical invitation of the Sultan, was housed mainly within the
premises discussed by their intellectual compatriots; palace walls until, in 1958, it moved into buildings of
some others tried to work in consonance with the its own. Another institution of higher education of
convictions they had espoused. The principal centers which Jogjakarta is proud is the academy of fine arts,
where modern art was evolving were the cities in Java, ASRI. The University and the Academy were lacking
pre-eminently Djakarta, Bandung, and Jogjakarta. in trained staff and equipment compared to the Uni-
versity in Djakarta and the art school in Bandung, in-
herited from the Dutch. But in the eyes of Indonesians,
the Jogja institutions had the supreme virtue of being
Jogjakarta
their own. The tenfold multiplication of secondary
The city of Jogjakarta, or Jogja for short, is permeated schoolsrn added enormously to the inHux of youth.
with a sense of national pride. Its people feel that they The pace of "cultural life" in the narrower sense,
are heirs to a glorious past whose traditions are still that is, activities devoted to the arts, had reached an
alive in their midst, that they were heroic participants amazing intensity in 1955. In a city of roughly 270,000
in the Indonesian Revolution and that they are ac- inhabitants and some 8,000 university students, 74 art
tively building the future. organizations were listed officially. Of these, 14 were of
I Iistorically, Jogja is a palace-city and lively trading a general nature and with mixed interests, including
center, the capital of the domain or "Special Region" associations formed by students of common ethnic
of the sultans of Jogjakarta. Its present autonomous origin for the practice and display of their particular
ruler is H. H. Hamengkubuwana IX. Under his prede- regional arts. Dance and music had l 7 and 16 associa-
cessors, Jogja was famed, as it still is, for the cultiva- tions respectively, and 12 groups were devoted to
tion of traditional arts and crafts. During the war for drama, from shadow play to modern stage and film pro-
independence, Jogja was the refuge and temporary ductions. Apart from these, the university students had
capital of the embattled Republic from which its their own literary and dramatic clubs. As for the plastic
leaders directed resistance to the Dutch. Nationalist arts, there were 7 associations, some with an extended
fervor was not confined to the Republican leaders, Su- membership and prominent leaders. It was estimated
karno and Hatta, and their followers; the Sultan also that in the mid-fifties about two-thirds if not three-
espoused the nationalist cause and thus a feudal prince quarters of Java's painters lived in Jogjakarta. With
and socialist-oriented revolutionaries were united in a its art academy, its painters' associations, the presence
common struggle. Guerrilla fighting, propaganda, and in Jogja of the government's Art Division of the Cul-
scorched-earth tactics were the Republicans' means; tural Office, and of several luminaries of the Indonesian
disdain and defiance of the Dutch were the princely modem art world, Jogjakarta was the Mecca for many
ways.* In the person of the Sultan, his subjects see aspiring young artists, who came from different regions,
and an attractive place for established artists to live and
* A story circulating about the Sultan of Jogjakarta is that, work in a stimulating and congenial atmosphere. The
when the Dutch occupied Jogjakarta in December, 1948,
the Sultan locked himself up in his keraton and refused to
negotiate with them. When, finally, he did consent to meet all the people to see and hear, and literally talked down to the
with their delegation, he emerged on top of the palace wall, for delegates who stood at the appointed spot on the ground below.
 [ 216] MODERN ART

intense activity of the painters was not an isolated phe- hills around the volcano Merapi. He had a magnificent
nomenon. Around them and sometimes interacting view of the "fire-mountain" whose different moods he
with them were the groups of young actors, play- constantly painted. Sudjojono had come to paint the
wrights, poets, and dancers. The folk theater with the Merapi, too, on commission from President Sukarno.
help of the young artists developed a new vitality. The As he clambered down from his platform, he com-
wayang world, with its highly stylized forms, however, plained of feeling obliged to paint meticulously each
remained a world apart. The modern artists turned leaf of the tobacco plants in the foreground. Evidently
away from it even though quite a few of them had the conversion from his earlier free approach to near
started their careers by drawing and coloring shadow- photographic naturalism somehow bothered him. At
play puppets in their childhood. home, he had batches of excellent ink sketches which
If you asked knowledgeable Indonesians in 1955- showed not only his skill but also that the freshness of
1957 to name the country's leading painters, they in- his perception had not vanished. A number of these
variably mentioned first among five or six names those had been made during his extended trip in 1951 with
of Sudjojono, Affandi, and Hendra. * During these an Indonesian art delegation to East Berlin, Rumania,
years, all three were living in Jogjakarta. Sudjojono the Soviet Union, and across Siberia to China. A short
headed the Young Artists of Indonesia, SIM, and poem or an aphorism was inscribed on some of the
Hendra was the leader of the People's Painters, the sketches. While Sudjojono freely acknowledged his
Pelukis Rakjat. Affandi, an old friend of Hendra, personal preferences for such unfettered masters as
though affiliated with the People's Painters, was first Ce,;anne and Van Gogh, he dogmatically forced himself
and foremost Affandi-a solitary phenomenon, a dy- to espouse social realism.* Yet Sudjojono had a keen
namic painter concerned mainly with his own art. appreciation of Java's ancient art. The writer Sitor Situ-
Some highlights of Sudjojono's views and activities morang said about him: "He opened my eyes to the
have been mentioned in the preceding chapter. He beauty of Prambanan."
was rightfully considered the founder of the Indonesian Founded in Madiun in 1946, the art association
modern art movement and his reputation rested on the which Sudojono headed was one of the oldest artists'
recognition of this role rather than on his work in the organizations to which, at one time or another, most of
years after Indonesia's attainment of independence. Indonesia's prominent painters belonged, including
Sudjojono was a man torn between art and politics. Hendra, who left SIM in 1947 to form the People's
He had had a good education under the Netherlands Painters. In the mid-fifties, however, SIM had few
Indies regime and was well-read in European philoso- artists of distinction with the exception of Sudjojono
phy and literature. After the war, he espoused commu- himself, its secretary and teacher Harijadi, and Suromo,
nism as the ideal system for achieving social justice. one of ASRI's best teachers. At SIM's studio, political
He believed that artists should be politically conscious discussions if not indoctrination were probably as im-
and cited Picasso and Diego de Rivera as good exam- portant as exercise in art.
ples. Art, he held, should be dedicated to the social and Harijadi, a gifted and sensitive person, embittered
political struggle. He felt that he must participate in by poverty but addicted to motorcycle racing, lived
politics even if it prevented him from devoting his nearby in a modest house. The house was full of chil-
time to painting, hoping that his art would meanwhile dren, six or seven of them. His wife, in addition to car-
mature and gain depth. ing for the family, tried to contribute to their liveli-
A lithe, vivacious, and eloquent man, Sudjojono, 43 hood through commercial efforts of her own. All the
years old in 1956, was grappling as an artist with a com- walls were covered with paintings, large and small, and
pulsion to "paint out," in every detail, what he saw. many others were stacked on the floor.
When I first met him, he was perched on an elevated One of Harijadi's paintings, in the collection of
bamboo platform installed in a rice field behind the President Sukarno, perhaps reflects best this artist's
house of the painter Trubus. Trubus, a teacher at the feelings in the fifties about himself and his society. It
ASRI academy, lived on the slope of one of the foot- was painted in 1953 and is entitled "Gathering Clouds

* Other names most frequently mentioned in various com- * Since this was written, Sudjojono has been expelled from
binations were Ngantung, Kartono, Rusli, Basuki Resobowo, the Indonesian Communist Party because the party disapproved
and sometimes, Wakidi. of his second marriage.
 Plate 163. "Gathering Clouds and Parting Roads," by Harijadi, 1953.

and Crossing Roads." It seems to be asking "where to?" ness of human beings, groping in their insecurity. Hari-
-a question similar to that which underlay the cul- jadi eventually left, or was expelled from, SIM, re-
tural debate and yet in a very different mood. The portedly because of a disagreement concerned with
gathering darkness above is heavy with menace; be- fees earned for a commissioned work which he had
neath it, small forlorn figures peer into the clouds as if refused to share with the association.
hoping for light; one has turned away; one, in the mid- Hendra, unlike Sudjojono, was not dogmatic or
dle, reflecting perhaps the artist's state of mind, seems given to cerebrations. The difference between these
to be asking, "What am I to think and do?" Perplexity two men was perhaps best illustrated by the story of
is the dominant mood (Pl. 163), but also the separate- their separation in 1947, a split in SIM that resulted in
[ 218] MODERN ART

the establishment of the Pelukis Rakjat. It was said that and projects were discussed. Whenever possible, the
this split was caused by a disagreement between Sud- Pelukis Rakjat acted as a body; commissions for a sculp-
jojono and Hendra on the manner of distributing the tured panel, a mural, or a monument such as the Tugu
association's monthly governmental subsidy. Sudjojono Muda in Semarang, were usually executed coopera-
apparently insisted on allocating it to SIM's members tively by several members of the group. It was in their
according to merit. He proposed to divide them into paintings that they asserted their individuality.
four classes-A, B, C, and D---depending on their Many a visitor, always cordially received, has spent
achievements and standing as artists, a procedure remi- time in the hall of the Pelukis Rakjat where he might
niscent of the official classification of artists in the have found Hendra at work on some project, looked at
Soviet Union. Hendra's position was that the only the latest paintings displayed on the walls, and chatted
valid distinction was whether a member had a family with some of the artists drifting in and out. They
or not. If married, Hendra claimed, an artist was en- worked hard, especially in preparation for a large exhi-
titled to 200 rupiah a month, and if single, only to 100, bition or when a commission came their way. Evidence
regardless of their respective merits as artists. In gen- of their activities was everywhere, in the hall, in their
eral, however, Hendra's ideology was close to Sud- rooms, and outside in the courtyard strewn with more
jojono's; he and his group agreed that art must be dedi- or less successful attempts at sculpture in stone and
cated to the people; be inspired by them and also be cement. Because sculpture, apart from decorative wood
understandable to them. Nevertheless, in the mid- carving, had become an almost forgotten art in Java,
fifties at least, few of them were willing to paint in the Hendra tried to revive it. To initiate his students
social realist style prescribed by the Communists who into the techniques of chisel and mallet, Hendra
courted them and with whom they cooperated. sought out a stonecutter whom he found among the
The People's Painters were at that time the most makers of Islamic tombstones.
active and numerous group in Jogjakarta and included To sketch and paint, the Pelukis Rakjat artists often
several highly respected artists among its members. The went out singly or in small groups and installed them-
organization's slogan was "Art for the People" and its selves either in the fields, at some river bank, in town
philosophy encouraged communal living and coopera- on a street corner or at the market place. Sometimes
tive work. The People's Painters arranged periodic they trekked to distant beaches or mountainous regions
shows in the capital and in other towns, which were to paint landscapes. If they used models, it was mainly
usually very well attended, and received commissions for portraits. Studies of the nude were not in evidence.
from different organizations. Until 1957, under Hen- Sketching nudes is a problem in the Indonesian art
dra's leadership* the group as a whole was very pro- world wherever the puritanical spirit of Islam makes
ductive. It therefore attracted many young aspiring such a practice reprehensible, and this certainly is the
artists from different parts of the country, more in fact, case in Java and in Sumatra.
than their community could absorb. The applican!s The sale of paintings was effected mainly at exhibi-
were young people who did not wish to enter the acad- tions, especially those- held in the capital. Among spe-
emy, or could not afford to, or could not meet its re- cial patrons of the People's Painters at the time were
quirements. By joining the Pelukis Rakjat, a young an art-loving colonel of the Military Police Corps, a
man also acquired a home; he could live and work to- Djakarta business man and collector, some trade unions
gether with other members in the association's com- which requested their services, and some foreign resi-
munal establishment, their asrama, on the outskirts of dents who bought their paintings. President Sukarno
Jogjakarta. was favorably inclined toward them and from time to
The asrama consisted of a large main house and sev- time purchased paintings by Hendra and other mem-
eral smaller structures nearby. In the main house, bers of the association for his private collection or for
Hendra, his wife, and little son occupied one of the bed- that of the state. The Communist-sponsored People's
rooms which also served as his private studio. A spa- Cultural Institute, Lekra, lent them promotional sup-
cious, high-ceilinged front room served as the com- port. A number of Pelukis Rakjat members have been
munity's gathering place, lounge, and art gallery. At a selected for travel abroad with cultural missions to the
large round table in the hall consultations were held USSR, the East European countries, and the People's
* He was succeeded by the painter Sudarso. Republic of China.
 THE GREAT DEBATE [219]

When a painting was sold, a certain percentage of opened one of their periodic exhibitions. Of the 44
the price was retained for the benefit of the communal works shown, there were only two by Hendra himself.
household. In certain cases, however, Hendra imposed He talked about his paintings mainly in terms of their
restrictions. For example, he would not permit the sale meaning. In one painting, "The Fair," Hendra ex-
of a small painting of a peasant's courtyard with resting pressed the tenderness of a young mother for her chil-
cattle (Pl. 164), which was the work of Tarmizi, the dren. With colorful toys in their hands, they sit gazing
youngest member of the group, a deaf Minangkabau at the fair in the deep blue distance, its lights and
boy in his late teens. The painting, of rare delicacy, bustle (Pl. 165).
had a special, luminous serenity. It was the best paint- Affection and tenderness, toward and between
ing that Tarmizi had produced so far, Ilendra ex- women and children especially, was a major theme in
plained, and it could not be sold until the boy had pro- Hendra's life as well as his art. One had only to see
duced a better one. The same principle applied to him take his little son into his arms to feel the gentle-
everyone, he said. So long as a successful work had not ness and warmth flowing into the child from his whole
been superseded by a better one, it had to remain hang- being. He himself was reared without a mother or other
ing on the wall of the community house. A portrait of loving feminine care. In his paintings, he dwells in the
a seated girl in pink, by Trubus, also awaited a worthy world of women. A wistful quality often emerges from
successor (see Pl. 182 below). his characteristic elongation of the forward-tending
I first met Hendra in October, 1955, in Djakarta neckline coupled with receding contours of chin and
where 21 participating members of the Pelukis Rakjat forehead. Another characteristic feature is Hendra's

Plate 164. "Cows," by Tarmizi, 1955.

[ 220] MODERN ART

tendency to paint women's and children's hair in loose flowing strands and a curly shock, dominates the com-
wisps or disheveled and flowing. While the colors of position and stands out against the delicate aquamarines
'The Fair" are deep and strong, many of Hendra's like a unifying landscape. There is languor in the soft
other paintings of women place them in a world of deli- faces and long delicate fingers of the women, and poetry
cate aquamarines. in their light-hued, gaily flowered garments. The child's
Hendra claimed that compassion for the poor and sullen face, surmounted by tousled hair, and her grin-
downtrodden motivated his art. In his youth, when he ning, grotesque puppet clown with his mischievous
became homeless after a violent quarrel with his dis- eye provide whimsical notes to the- lyricism of the com-
solute father, he wandered through villages where it position. Still other Hendra paintings have flat opaque
was the poorest who fed and sheltered him. Later, as a surfaces and massive, clearly defined shapes evoking
comedian, he entertained simple folk in the Sunda reminiscences of Gauguin.
lands of West Java. This undoubtedly strengthened There were still other sides to Hendra: on the one
his lasting fondness for the colorful popular stage. hand, a love for the microcosms in nature, small color-
'The People" meant to Hendra the burdened women ful flowers, a little world of goldfish which he lovingly
who carry heavy loads tied to their bent backs, vendors cultivated; and on the other, a predilection for large
at the roadside and their customers, women and chil- size, heroic works. He preferred large canvasses when-
dren. The burdened women plodding along Central ever he could afford to procure them and indeed
Java's roads to and from markets had become the painted some huge ones. They were not, however,
ubiquitous symbol of poverty and degradation in many among his best works, perhaps because he had to spread
of the Pelukis Rakjat paintings. Hendra's huge un- the~ on the floor of his cramped bedroom and crawl
finished "The Poultry Vendors" (Pl. 166) is perhaps around to paint them.
the most expressive example of this theme. The large, Addiction to size often led the Pelukis Rakjat under
clumsy feet of the poultry vendors, along the central his leadership to set up incongruously large and clumsy
axis of the canvas and set off against a light back- works in unsuitable surroundings. For example, they
ground, are the heroes of the painting. The cackling carved a gray cement relief, 8 by 12 feet, depicting
ducks and chickens form a dense, oppressive cloud five sturdy workers for a miniscule lobby of the Public
above the women's forward-straining heads. The paint Workers' Union (SEBDA) building at Madiun. They
is especially thick in this upper part of the canvas, add- also produced gigantic portraits in relief for the Dja-
ing to the effect of weight. The colors are opaque; the karta Museum of the Military Police Corps housed in
lines and shapes, crude. One of the marching women an old, graceful colonial mansion. Along the back wall
stuffs a betel quid into her mouth, so like a beast of of its central exhibition hall a "portrait" head of Gad-
burden snatching at a leaf. The moving grotesqueness jah Mada,* 8 feet high, is flanked on either side by two
of the procession is strengthened by its juxtaposition 6-foot high reliefs of military police corps colonels. An-
with the relaxed group of women gathered around a other memento of Pelukis Rakjat endeavors in monu-
large tray of food, and by the casual glance of one of mentality was Rustamadji's stone bust of the Sultan of
them toward the passing ·1endors and their noisy Jogjakarta, which was over 4 feet high. It stood forlorn
burdens. Hendra's credo of art for the people, or more and neglected on the ground in the lane leading to the
correctly, about the people, was emotionally motivated People's Painters asrama. Evidently, neither the sub-
and not compulsive dogma; it was not "painted out" ject of the portrait nor any one else was interested in
with the meticulous, near-photographic precision allocating to it a more dignified place.
adopted by the former leader of SIM. When I once touched upon this "affiiction by gigant-
Hendra moved in several stylistic directions simul- ism," as I called it, Hendra retorted, "This is to protest
taneously. The style of "The Poultry Vendors" offers against all those puny buildings, the lack of space, the
strong contrast to the translucent colors and fine cal- lack of boldness in building and thinking."
ligraphy of such paintings as "Delousing" (Pl. 167). In 1956, Hendra was deeply involved in designing
The tightly knit group in tilted space, of two women a second version of the National Monument his first
and a child with a puppet, is a poetic statement of a plan having failed in the competition. His ground plan,
prosaic subject-the friendly service of picking lice out * Gadjah Mada is the famous Prime Minister and empire-
of a companion's hair. Black hair, in masses, wisps, long builder of fourteenth-century Java.
Plate 165. "Sekaten "(The Fair), by Hendra Gunawan, 1955.
 THE GREAT DEBATE [ 221]

cross-sections, and clay model showed a tall, heavy, contrary, the pathetic character of the statue erected in
conical pillar tapering to a spire and decorated with front of the People's Council Building in Jogjakarta
ornate flaming motifs. It rose from the middle of a implies in itself heroism. A man with an emaciated
huge platform shaped like the spread-eagle outline of face, wearing a Javanese turban and a long, heavy over-
the Garuda bird. Recessed from the edges of this high coat stands gazing ahead into space. One hand clutches
platform were buildings whose shape followed the the edge of his coat as if to protect him from a cold
curving outlines of wings and tail. Ornamentation _of wind, the other rests on a cane. This is the way the
the balustrades, porticoes, and stairwings echoed that much admired and very ill Sudirman looked leading the
of the Hindu-Javanese tjandi, but instead of makaras at revolutionary army before he succumbed to tuberculo-
the end of the banisters, there were elegant snails- sis in 1948.
symbols of poverty according to Hendra. The effect of Of the younger painters who participated in the
the whole was somewhat like a combination of nine- 1955 Pelukis Rakjat exhibition in Djakarta, Batara
teenth-century Grand Opera, Sans Souci, Hindu-Java- Lubis, Djoni Trisno, Alibasjah, and Tarmizi drew one's
nese architectural elements, and Soviet Russian heroic attention. Alibasjah, an art teacher, was represented by
sculptures. The statues represented revolutionary a few well-composed and expressive landscapes. Djoni
heroes, the People on the March, including sailors and Trisno, an actor as well as a painter, showed a portrait
soldiers with fixed bayonets. The days and nights spent of a sturdy girl, "Red Blouse," with the symbolic figure
by Hendra on this project, which impaired his health of a burdened woman and an oxcart in the background.
and drained his resources, remained, however, unre- In a skillful self-portrait, the handsome and easy-going
warded by success. Trisno depicted himself looking like a sorrowful apos-
When, in earlier years, Hendra carved in cement a tle. Behind his head, extended a dreamlike background
statue of Indonesia's revolutionary hero, General Sudir- -an empty iron bench on a deserted road and a house
man, it was neither oversize nor overtly heroic. On the behind a tortured, leafless tree, reminiscent of surrealist

Plate 166. "Poultry Vendors," by Hendra Gunawan, 1956 (unfinished).

[ 222] MODERN ART

painting. Trisno's versatility is reflected in one of his picted with sophisticated naivete; the encircling lighted
pastels (Pl. 168) which shows the abandoned gaiety of outlines of the wall, of the theater roof with the mon-
slum dwellers at a dance party, "Doger." The people's strous kala-head on its gable, and of the musicians'
amusements had also served as theme for a charming shed, lend the composition a gentle and yet unequi-
painting by ASRI's and SIM's Suromo. In his "Keto- vocal unity.
prak" the illuminated stage of the popular open-air Batara Lubis, ,vho had given up studying at ASRI,
theater is surrounded by the deep, still night (Pl. 169). had a distinct style of his own, though he had bor-
In the shadows below the stage the public is assembling. rowed certain mannerisms from Hendra. His patterned
Before the curving wall with signs announcing the paintings were characterized by dark, heavy outlines
play, "The Golden Mask," people are lined up to pur- and strong if not brash colors. In some paintings steel-
chase tickets. The ubiquitous vendors of snacks arc gray tones created a dusky atmosphere which was
gathered at the gate. This bright little world is de- strangely outspoken. He liked to light up his paintings

Plate 167. "Delousing," by Hendra Gunawan, 1954.

 Plate 168. "Doger," by Djoni Trisno, 1956.

with bright decorative elements. Lubis came to Jogja tures had high roofs covered with a thick layer of dark
from Sumatra and one wondered whether his style was fiber that stood out amid the greenery in heavy tower-
influenced by his native environment. Indeed, this ing masses. The plaza in front of the chief's house was
thought appeared justified when I saw his native vil- dry and stony. Despite the scorching sun, the setting
lage in Sumatra (Huta Godang in South Tapanuli) was harsh and dark. Lubis, himself an expert drummer,
where his father, the Radja Djundjungan, had been arranged for the old drums to be brought out. They
the titular lord of the village and head of the clan were suspended from the railing of the pavilion, hang-
(marga).* In Huta Godang, old and venerated adat ing nine in a row outside under the heavy eaves of the
buildings were still intact: the ceremonial house, re- roof, while, standing inside, several men including
pository of sacred heirlooms and symbol of age-old Batara, belabored them with sticks. The drummed
customs; the chief's house, occupied by aged relatives; pieces had names which reflected their powerful, dark,
and a pavilion on high, heavy posts, blackened by age, and sometimes furious rhythms: "Rolling Boulders,"
where the ceremonial drums were beaten. These struc- "Thundering Storm." The dark, rapid, intertwining
and syncopated beats unrolled into frenzy, hands and
* By 1955, he had become the regent (hupati) of South
Tapanuli and lived in the port town, Sibolga. hair of the drummers flying. The rolling boulders be-
Plate 169. "Ketoprak," by Suromo, 1950.

came an avalanche, the drums thundered until the obligations and little privacy. At home, he was a promi-
beats set one's blood pulsing in response and fire filled nent member of his clan, with little privacy and many
one's eyes. social obligations, of a different sort but equally taxing.
A carved, wooden bracket which once adorned the It was a strange parallelism of demands upon an in-
post at the foot of the pavilion's staircase was kept dividual in two social units belonging to entirely dif-
among the relics in the ceremonial house. It represented ferent worlds-the traditional organization of a Batak
a "child- and woman-eating" monster which Batara clan and a modern collective or communal art organiza-
Lubis lovingly copied on paper. Here, unmistakably, tion. Placed between these two worlds, Batara Lubis
were the sources for the winding designs that character- espoused no particular social philosophy and did not
ized many of the painter's decorative vignettes. He strain, as a few of his colleagues did, to depict social
painted differently in Sumatra than in Central Java- reality. His main preoccupation remained the inter-
with simpler shapes and harsher colors. In Jogjakarta, play of color effects aided by his facile decorative pat-
in the Pelukis Rakjat asrama, he was in very different terning.
surroundings, in a softer land, among people with dif- Compared with the enterprising People's Painters
ferent customs, clothing, mentality. In the asrama, he and the heavily politicized SIM, Jogjakarta's other two
was "Batara Lubis." In Huta Godang, he was "Sutan," art associations of the day appeared less dynamic. They
the title given the chief's son. In the asrama, he was a were organized later and none of their leaders enjoyed
member of collective organization with many social a reputation approaching that of Sudjojono or Hendra.
 THE CREA T DEBATE [ 225]
The Pl (Pelukis Indonesia) or Indonesian Painters, was Bagong Kussudiardjo, an outstanding dancer who
was founded in 1950, and PIM (Pelukis Indonesia devoted considerable time to painting. Bagong was no
Muda) or Young Indonesian Painters, in 1952. exception in possessing several talents and practicing
Kusnadi, one of the founders of PI and formerly a more than one art. So, for example, a young student,
member of the People's Painters, headed the associa- Dating Boestami who came to Jogja to study law at
tion in 1955. He was also head of the Plastic Arts Sec- Gadjah Mada University, was known at home in West
tion of the government's Cultural Office. According Sumatra as the talented painter and poet Motinggo
to its leader, the PI was established to provide associa- Boesje.
tive opportunities to artists who did not wish to partici- Pl's activities were restricted to occasional exhibits.
pate in extreme left political activities as they would The association had no headquarters of its own. Kus-
have to in SIM, or be involved in a politically "colored" nadi's office and home probably served as central
organization like the People's Painters. In his official gathering place. In contrast, PIM-the Young Indo-
capacity, however, Kusnadi, while inlluential in many nesian Painters-started out by raising funds for a
ways, maintained cordial relations with these two as- house which they built in the middle of rice fields on
sociations and sought their cooperation for government- the border of the city. Its founders and most of its
sponsored projects, as for instance the big art exhibition members were teachers and advanced students of
held in conjunction with the Asian-African Conference ASRI. Widajat, a versatile painter and teacher in the
in Bandung in 1955 or exhibitions sent with cultural Academy, was one of PIM's leading spirits, whereas
missions abroad. the promotional and administrative cares were in the
Pl's relatively small membership included some other hands of Sajogo. PIM's spacious and bright hall pro-
artists employed at the Cultural Office. One of them vided excellent facilities for exhibitions, gatherings,

Plate 170. "Oxcarts, Jogja," by Batara Luhis, 1956.

[ 226] MODERN ART

and classes. After three years of struggling to establish discovering sculpture. Models served mainly for por-
itself, this association was ready to expand its activi- traiture in clay; the nude human body was not studied
ties. It was envisaged as an apolitical organization of from life. Among the students of sculpture Amrus Na-
ASRI alumni, but reportedly it disintegrated in the talsja was the most forceful and original. His home was
early sixties and was replaced in part by a new organi- in Sumatra and several of his earlier wood carvings
zation called Sanggar Bamhu (Bamboo Studio). were reminiscent of the magic staffs of the Batak
As for ASRI itself, students were packed into its magician-healers, the datu, on which, like totem poles,
cramped quarters and could be found there at work at figures were carved one on top of another. Amrus had
all times. ASRI's teachers, like Hendra, were busy re- carved several upright or curving poles in this manner
but his winding and entwined figures did not have the
Plate I 7 I. "The Dispossessed in Twilight," by Amrus stark rigidity of the magic staffs. His later groups had
Natalsja, 1955. a savage force. "The Dispossessed in Twilight," hewn
out of a heavy trunk of an old tamarind tree, and
finished in boldly chipped surfaces (Pls. 171, 172),
conveys the pathos of human existence with a power
rarely encountered in the works of other Indonesian
artists. Here again, as in the case of Lubis, the artist's
work seems to carry echoes of his homeland's imagery.
A tempting juxtaposition with Amrus' group is the
stone mother with two children by an anonymous
Batak carver of an unknown period (see Pl. 19).
Though charged with an impersonal force, the primi-
tive Batak image does not, like "The Dispossessed in
Twilight," project human pathos.
Among the other sculpture students was one, Arby
Sama, who was moving in a very different direction.
He was experimenting with semiabstract shapes which
at that time was quite unusual at ASRI and for Jogja
in general. Although he was neither encouraged nor
guided in this direction, evidently there was no explicit
disapproval of his compositions.*
In the painting classes the array of regular and visit-
ing teachers offered the students a great diversity of
approaches, relative skill and competence in instruc-
tion. Djajengasmoro, Suromo, Widajat, and Sapto-
hudojo were among the regular teachers. They were
joined by the sculptor Edie Sunarso when in the late
fifties he returned from studies abroad. Among the
visiting teachers were several members of the People's
Painters including Trubus and Sudarso who devoted
much time to ASRI, also Hendra and Affandi who
visited the students less regularly. Apparently none of
the teachers imposed on the students a distinct disci-
pline or style of painting and many a student felt that
he must seek his own way-tjari sendirit-as they ex-

* I am told that during the sixties the trend at ASRI had

changed from realism to semiabstract and even abstract forms
in both sculpture and painting.
t Lit., "search for yourself."
 Plate 172. Detail of "The Dispossessed in Twilight."

pressed it. Yet the critcisms of the teachers, especially A mild man with a bold brush, when asked into what
of Affandi when he came, were highly prized. school of painting he places himself, he replies: "I am
Affandi, though he firmly and importantly belongs told that I am an expressionist." Some Westerners asso-
to the Jogja scene, has had much experience abroad and ciate his style with Van Gogh's; others liken him to
enjoys an international reputation. His art is addressed Kokoshka, with whom, indeed, he has affinities. His
to the world at large. earlier works were executed with much greater re-
Plate I 73. "My Mother," by Affandi, 1941.

straint. The contrast between the fine portrait of his ground and larger areas of color are rubbed in with the
aged mother painted in 1941 (PL 173) and "Mother palm, sometimes spread so thin as to resemble a brushed
Sleeping," painted in 1960 (PL 174), dramatically il- wash. Many of his recent paintings have to be viewed
lustrates the evolution of Affandi's style. During these from a great distance. Affandi himself is very farsighted
twenty years his vivid brush had given way to the and it is astounding that he can judge while painting
palette knife and then to the tube out of which he the projected effect. Thus, only from a considerable
squeezes winding strings of pure color directly onto distance can one discern the shapes of his typically
the canvas. Sometimes these thick strings of paint are stormy painting of beached outrigger boats in Bali.
flattened with the tube's nozzle or a finger. The back- Here the fish-shaped bows appear as flaming, toothed,
 THE GREAT DEBATE [229]
monsters like crocodiles under the agitated masses of Through the years Affandi produced many self-por-
deep blue which form the shoreline and mountainous traits in different media-ink, oil, clay (see Pl. 193).
shapes in the background. The reds in the teeth of the Several of these are whimsical. In his self-portraits
open jaws on the left, surmounted by a fiery branching one can find Affandi crouching, scowling, sulky or
mast, create a veritable conllagration. just being himself; while in the United States he hum-
In 1956, Affandi lived in Kata Gde, an old town near orously depicted himself in a bright red costume
Jogja, renowned for its ancient and holy cemetery of against a snowy landscape. He says that often, when he
former rulers visited by pilgrims, and for its silver- is frustrated by a painting he is working on, he ends
smiths. His daughter Kartika, married to the academi- up by filling the canvas with a portrait of himself.
cian Saptohudojo, followed in the footsteps of her After twenty years of painting, Affandi's style shows
father as a painter. One of Affandi's startling and mov- a growing boldness and daring in the choice of colors
ing paintings was produced when his first grandchild and the application of paint. Basically, however, his art
was born. It shows a stark naked, somewhat pot-bellied has consistently retained the same character of strong
Affandi with a baby in his arms under a deep blue linear movement and expressive tension. This may be
starry sky. Affandi explains that, holding the newborn the reason why among his colleagues there is the feel-
child, he suddenly felt himself as naked and as helpless ing that "Affandi will always remain the same." His
in the vast universe. art is not unanimously acclaimed in his homeland,

Plate 174. "Mother Sleeping," by Affandi, 1960.

Plate 175. "Balinese Fishing Boats," by Affandi, 196 I.

though his reputation is. President Sukarno freely ad- In the high tower where you have gone before.
mits that he does not appreciate Affandi's art, but the Where you have turned away
effect of his direct and dynamic style is felt to be liber- From the world's noise and show-so glorious from
ating by a number of artists. The late Chairil Anwar, outside,
Indonesia's celebrated poet, declared in a poem entitled So false in form. There where you will be praying
Give me a little room
"To Affandi, the Painter":
Till the encircling darkness has vanished and the
One day when I have lost the gift of words, gloom. 17
When I have lost the courage to enter my own home, Affandi's "bamboo house" and studio are now a land-
When terrored on the threshold I stand irresolute
mark in Jogjakarta and attract visitors from near and
Because of the decay, the instability
To which all things are born-
far. In consonance with his international orientation
(For I know, I know-Death must come to all- and sound commercial sense, Affandi in the early six-
My hands must stiffen before the work is done; ties inaugurated in Jogjakarta an International Asso-
Without soul, without hope I must suffer. I have seen ciation of Plastic Arts known as I.AP.A. of which he
it in the dream)- was himself the chairman, the painter Rusli vice-chair-
Then, give me a little room man, and Sukarno Hadian secretary.
 THE GREAT DEBATE [ 231]
Rusli, too, is a distinctive figure on the Indonesian Even the opponents of "Jogja"-a term which came
art scene. His art, contrasted with Affandi's, is of ex- to stand for its agglomeration of painters, especially
quisite delicacy. He had spent several years at Rabin- the People's Painters-always acknowledged this fresh-
dranath Tagore's educational center, Santineketan, ness. And despite the contrasting styles and underlying
finding there, unlike Affandi, an atmosphere very con- ideologies or absence of them, the dominant feeling
genial to his own spirit. Rusli's watercolors are poeti- among the majority of Jogja's painters was that their art
cally suggestive. His calligraphy reflects on the one was "national," indigenous, genuine, Indonesian. This
hand affinities with the art of Dufy, and on the other belief had little to do with the pursuit of-let alone
with Chinese traditions. Often the red imprint of his achievement of-a certain style in painting that could
thumb becomes an integral part of his composition (Pis. be identified as being distinctly Indonesian. It stemmed
176, 177). In 1955-1957 Rusli was not settled in Jog- mainly from the painters' emotional or dogmatic identi-
jakarta but visited there periodically. fication with the land and its people. By painting
There were in Jogjakarta a number of other promis- Java's mountains, rice fields, markets, oxcarts, village
ing painters-too numerous to be discussed here. To courtyards, or the people's toils and amusements, by
mention only a few names, such painters as Nasjah, painting portraits of others and themselves, they were
Handrijo, and Suromo (see Pl. 169) commanded at- national inasmuch as their art was devoted to Indo-
tention in their own ways. nesian life, and inasmuch as they did not consciously
In sum, Jogjakarta's modern art community in the imitate contemporary Western art but "tjari sendiri,"
mid-fifties was composed of a wide range of personali- searched for themselves. The formal aspects were a
ties who worked in a great variety of styles. The paint- matter for each individual to resolve. And here, as the
ings produced there, despite the lack of discipline and students of the Bandung art school pointed out, "Jogja"
of technical accomplishment, had a freshness born of had nevertheless wittingly or unwittingly adopted
enthusiasm combined in some cases with helplessness. Western conceptions of painting, starting with natural-

Plate 176. "Semarang Harbor," by Rusli, 1956.

-
[232] MODERN ART

ism and stopping short with the postimpressionists. could affect his choice of subject or style. In fact, he
With a few rare exceptions, there was no experimenta- has that nonmoralistic attitude which belongs to all ar-
tion with abstract or nonobjective art in the fifties. tists intent only on perfecting their creation. The "In-
Hendra, scanning an illustrated catalogue of a large donesianism" of Jogja's painters, whose orientation lay
exhibition held in New York in 1955, kept repeating between these two extremes, was not only focusing on
"gila, gila, gila"-"this is mad, mad, mad . . . . " And their land and its folk but also a dedication to them.
a young art teacher, fresh from several years in Italy, Implicitly it, too, was colored by a cherished sense of
said: "You see, we are still very close to nature." morality.
In discussing the "Jogja" artists as artists, we have This was the situation in the middle fifties. It
introduced some of their personal traits, their ideals, would seem that in the succeeding years, with the
and social behavior. This kind of study flowed naturally emergence of some new leaders, the art associations,
from the artists' own views of themselves; they do not though changed in name and composition, were still
separate their artists' consciousness from their social divided into politically (Communist) oriented and
conscience-a conscience which binds some of them to apolitical organizations. Thus in the place of the de-
doctrinaire ideologies and politics, others to vague and funct PIM, there was the Sanggar Bambu composed of
emotional nationalism or "Indonesianism." They would graduates and senior students of ASRI; and, displacing
never say, "The picture is the thing," but would insist the old SIM, a younger set led by the sculptor Amrus
that it has a social significance. The majority of Jogja's Natalsja, created the Bumi Tarung ("Fighting
artists were or were trying to be, in this sense, moral Grounds," or perhaps "Arena"), supported by the Com-
men. Sudjojono was destroyed as an artist by his com- munist art institute, Lekra. In ASRI itself, however,
mitment to communism, his particular kind of moral- the former absence of a central philosophy, despite the
ity. Affandi, in contrast, consistently pursued his art continuing multiplicity of direction by staff and stu-
with complete concentration on the expressiveness of dents, apparently had been filled by the government's
his work, without regard to any social ideology that proclaimed stress on national identity.

Plate 177. "Hut in the Valley," by Rusli, 1956.

 Plate 178. "Perahu in Bali," by M. N. Mulder, 1950.

Bandung trast to the traditionally subdued, dark brown and dark

blue tones of Central Java's batik garments with their
Bandung's history and its cultural climate strongly smaller and more regular designs. (Since the revolu-
contrast with those of Jogjakarta. The capital of West tion, however, gayer colors and freer patterns have ap-
Java, which had a population almost triple that of peared in Central Java, too.)
Jogja in the mid-fifties, had developed into a modern Among the Sundanese aristocracy, unlike that of
urban center largely through Dutch initiative. Its high Surakarta and Jogjakarta, there were no ruling princes
altitude and pleasant, cool climate made it a highly de- during the colonial period. Its top-ranking members
sirable residential site and a resort where Europeans were the regents, but for all practical purposes, they
once could find new vigor after a prolonged stay in the were Netherlands Indies civil servants. Bandung's his-
hot and humid plains. torical role during World War II and the Indonesian
The population of the region in which Bandung is Revolution is associated mainly with the March, 1942,
located is largely Sundanese. They have a dialect of Dutch surrender to the Japanese,* and with the short-
their own and are generally considered more light- lived, Dutch-sponsored autonomous state of Negara
hearted than the Javanese of Central Java. The Sunda- Pasundan of which Bandung was the capital. Although
nese themselves regard the Javanese as "ancient and there had been intense revolutionary activity in Ban-
tired people." Reinforcing this claimed difference in dung, no dramatic light was ever fixed upon it. Thus
disposition, the Sundanese prefer batik skirts of light
* Surrender was formalized at Lembang, a hill resort near
tints with large and free patterns, often floral, in con- Bandung.
[ 234] MODERN ART

neither ancient palace traditions nor pride stemming of engineering. The presence of the postal and railroads
from a recognized role in the revolution has animated administrative headquarters and the proximity of the
the spirit of the city's inhabitants. military training center at Tjimahi contributed to Ban-
Dutch culture has left a strong imprint on Bandung's dung's Western style.
physical appearance and on the life of its upper-class Bandung's art school, too, was a legacy of the Dutch.
Indonesian inhabitants. There are no enclaves of kam- It was begun as a training school for drawing teachers
pung-dwellers hiding behind the big, modern hotels, and not for creative artists but gradually its character
the office buildings, or on the wide avenues vvhere con- changed. When taken over by the Indonesian govern-
tent, whitewashed residences are set off by neat front ment, several Dutch art teachers were retained. Among
gardens. No sidewalk vendors enliven the shopping these, an important figure with a lasting influence, was
section and one has to get away from the city's center to M. N. Mulder. A painter with an academic training in
find a little coffee shop, or warung. Bamboo houses and Holland, Mulder (affectionately referred to by his stu-
huts are relegated to the city's outskirts. dents as Ries, his nickname), had studied and worked
As a center of learning and research under the Dutch independently in Paris before coming to Indonesia in
administration, Bandung was oriented toward science 1948. His own works unmistakably reflect the strong
and technology. Located there were the Department of influence of Jacques Villon. He left Bandung in 1959,
Mines and Geological Survey, the Volcanological Serv- having trained a group of gifted students who regarded
ice, the Pasteur Institute, and the Technical Institute him as an excellent teacher and who, in turn, became
where students could specialize in different branches teachers at the Bandung school themselves.

Plate 179. "In the Waiting Room," by A. Sadali, 1953.

 The Bandung art school or "Seni Rupa," "Plastic
Arts," as it is brieHy referred to, was not surrounded by
vigorous art associations. Besides the St. Lucas Guild,
which had a considerable Dutch membership from
1948 until its dissolution in 1953, there were two asso-
ciations founded by young Indonesian artists: Jiva
Mukti (Free Spirit), organized in 1948 by Barli,
Karnedi, and Sartono; and Tjipta Pantjaran Rasa
(Creativity, Fountain of Feeling), or TPR, formed in
1953 by R. Walujo, Abcdy, and Angkama Setjadi-
pradja. Unlike the Jogja associations, whose leading
members exercised an inHuence upon ASRI students
either as visiting teachers or by sheer proximity, the
Bandung organizations were overshadowed by "Seni
Rupa." Its strong leadership in methodology and es-
thetics inHuenced the associations indirectly and also
directly through teachers and students who had be-
come association members. So, for instance, Mochtar
Apin, then a student, was chairman of Jiva Mukti in
1951-1952, and the teacher Angkama Setjadipradja
was one of the leading spirits of TPR.
Completely outside the school's sphere of inHuence,
and independent of all other organizations, stood the
Sanggar Seniman (Artist's Studio) of the late Kartono
Yudhokusumo. On the Bandung art scene, Kartono
was in a way the counterpart of Affandi in Jogja; he
was equally independent and original, though his style
was very different from Affandi's. With Kartono al-
ways set apart, the term "Bandung" was used in Indo-
nesian art circles to denote principally the "Seni Rupa" Plate 180. "Self-Portrait," by But Muchtar, 1956.
school and more specifically the group of evolving
painters around Mulder. emerged to rival Amrus Natalsja. It was very different
Compared with the improvised rugged and cramped in painting.
quarters of ASRI, the Bandung school in the mid-fifties The leading lights in painting among the senior
was strikingly modern and comfortable. The classrooms, students and the recent graduates who were working
the teachers' studios, and the office of the director, as instructors were Sadali, But Muchtar, Srihadi, Popo
Mr. Sumardja, were spacious, bright, and equipped Iskandar, Subhakto, and Angkama Sctjadipradja.
with handsome, functional furniture built locally after Studying in Paris, after a period in Holland, was an-
designs made by the architecture students. Compared other talented Mulder student, Mochtar Apin.* Be-
with ASRI, Bandung's "Seni Rupa" had fewer stu- cause Mulder's inHuence on the painting style of his
dents and also, proportionately, a much smaller faculty students was notable (though several remained im-
-80 students and 10 teachers in 1956. The teaching mune to his Villon-like qualities) and because no ideo-
of art history was better developed in Bandung. In- logical content appeared in "Bandung" art, it was
dian, Indonesian, Islamic, and European art history branded by "Jogja" as Western and un-lndonesian.
were taught. The only common point of the two schools
was their weakness in the teaching of sculpture, and * Since 1956 most of these painters have spent some time
abroad, especially in the United States, and all are teaching at
among the Bandung students no striking talent had the Bandung School of Fine Arts.
Plate 181. "A Girl Named Ira," by Srihadi Sudarsono, 1955.

The Bandung group countered these accusations by so that it can operate indirectly. The students influence
asserting that art was international; and, moreover, that one another to a stronger degree than they are affected by
"Jogja" had also borrowed its art styles from the West, my direct influence. 18
the only difference being that "Jogja" had not gone
beyond representationalism, having stopped short with These passages appear in a letter to Salim, an expatri-
Post-Impressionism. ate painter settled in Paris who was then visiting In-
Ries Mulder, deeply devoted to his task as teacher, donesia. Mulder's long exposition was provoked by
but constantly obliged to defend his approach to teach- Salim's disapproving public remarks about the un-
ing, once wrote: Indonesian character of painting at the Bandung
school. Mulder also wrote: ''You . . . have been free
My method of teaching is to provide an introduction to the to seek and find yourself without hindrances or prej-
language of form in the widest possible sense-the possi- udices or sentiments, without daily insistence that you
bilities of line, tone, color, form, and space and their use be 'Indonesian.' Why do you want to withhold this
in art expression as applied in various epochs and different
freedom from others?-the freedom to orient oneself,
parts of the world. . . . When criticizing the work of my
unimpeded, to the language of forms and to find one's
students, aside from purely technical advice, I restrict my-
self to the improvement of what they themselves try to convictions in the slow process of acceptance and re-
achieve in their work. I am fully conscious, of course, that jection."
an element of personal influence remains inevitable. But This slow process of acceptance and rejection, of the
no one with inside knowledge of the situation here would gradual crystallization of the young painters' person-
deny that I have managed to keep this influence in bounds alities, continues to the present. Despite the similarity
 THE GREAT DEBATE [237]
in general approach, there were, in the mid-fifties, a very vivid character to the whole. Yet the painting
marked differences among them. Sadali's works, with retains a certain brittle delicacy. This portrait by
their webs of delicately delineated geometrical shapes Srihadi, when viewed next to "Young Girl" by Jogja's
and cool, subdued colors, created an effect of lightness T rubus (Pl. 182), dramatically illustrates the differ-
and space. "In the Waiting Room" (Pl. 179) is a good ence in all conceptions between a good young painter
example of his harmonious layering of planes with of the Bandung school and one from Jogia. Trubus
juxtaposed nuances of light shades. The painting cre- conveys the adolescent grace and shyness of his subject
ates a feeling of expanse going beyond the confines of in softly flowing forms of iridescent pinks and grays.
the suggested waiting room and, strangely, also one of As suggested by the small selection of paintings
suspended time. A very different spirit emanates from shown here so far, there was also a difference between
But Muchtar's "Self-Portrait" (Pl. 180) where the the Bandung and Jogja painters in the choice of their
planes are balanced more impetuously and the colors themes. In Bandung, scenes drawn from folk life were
are stronger. Finally, "A Girl Named Ira" by Srihadi conspicuous by their absence. Neither their pictur-
(Pl. 181) is a highly patterned, mosaic-like composition esqueness nor their social implications seemed to attract
of sharp, angular planes, each with a hue of its own, the painters' interest. Few portraits and practically no
in which strong accents of bright red (as in the jacket) self-portraits, so abundant in Jogja, were in evidence.
and black amid gray, green, and yellowish tones lend They painted, rather, landscapes, still lifes, and com-

Plate 182. ''YoungGirl,"byTrubus, 1955.

 [ 238] MODERN ART

pos1t10ns with figures, often exercising in limited pal- comm1ss1on. They created with their murals a decora-
ettes. They always seemed to place primary value on tive, cheerful, and meaningful setting for the univer-
the esthetic ordering of shapes and colors; subject and sity students' canteen. Unfortunately, the basement in
meaning were not so important to them. They could which the canteen is located later proved rather damp
have asserted with ease that "the picture is the thing." and reportedly the murals arc disintegrating.
To the revolutionary and romantic generation of It was these murals which had provoked Salim's re-
artists assembled in Jogja, Bandung art appeared alien proach that the Bandung artists lacked "Indonesian
and cold, even meaningless. One thoughtful Indone- emotion." And yet, Mulder ·reminded Salim, the con-
sian observer remarked that were it not for the existence struction workers who were busy finishing the canteen
of the Bandung school, Jogja's "lndonesianism" might while the murals were being painted greatly admired
never have been formulated. "Jogja's quest for "nation- Srihadi's panels. "If there be no trace in them of any
alism in art," he thought, was less a positive conviction Indonesian emotion, how would you explain this lik-
and more a reaction to the intellectualism and estheti- ing?" Mulder queried. He wondered whether Villon's
cism of the Bandung painters, to the unmistakable in- style had not struck a congenial chord in the predispo-
fluence of a Dutch teacher, a reaction, in fact, to "Ban- sition and temperament of his young Indonesian fol-
dung's" westernism. lowers. Indeed, there was so much in Srihadi's and
The conceptions and technical skills of the Bandung Sadali's work which was clearly their own that Villon's
group as a team were demonstrated when, in 1956, style might have been more a prop than an alien im-
they decorated the mess hall of the University of Indo- position.
nesia in Djakarta with a series of fourteen murals, And, as foreseen by Mulder, this prop eventually fell
which were to symbolize the various arts and sciences away. By 1960, But Muchtar, while retaining intellec-
taught at the University. The project was completed in tual control, relaxed his former rigidity in the delinea-
less than a month by the four painters who designed tion of shapes, achieved greater cohesion in his compo-
the murals. Each was assisted by one or two students. sitions, and a greater fluidity in color composition. In
But Muchtar painted "Prehistory," "Cultural Growth," the paintings produced while he was studying in the
and two murals on the Arts; Sriha<li's murals depicted United States, the colors are far from compartmental-
"Agriculture," "Medicine," "Architecture," and "Indus- ized-freely fusing, they become a vibrant force per-
try"; Popo lskandar designed "Music," "Law," "Fish- meating background and figures alike.
ing," and "Mining"; while two panels by Subhakto de- Srihadi, who spent a year and half at the Fine Arts
picted "Nature." Subhakto was one of the few Bandung Department of the University of Ohio where he ob-
students who did not adopt the geometricized, highly tained an M.A. degree in 1962, abandoned completely
structured style inspired at the school by Mulder. His the Villon-like precision of geometrically delineated
murals of nature, free, gay, and light, gave one wall of forms with their delicately balanced color planes creat-
the mess hall an entirely different, smiling character. ing space. While preserving his subtlety, he turned to
Symbolizing the new scientific era, on the "Agricul- less defined, almost biological shapes, to agglomerations
ture" panel Srihadi designed austere elongated figures of colors reminiscent of geological formations, and to
whose tall, slender, dark forms suggest scholars in aca- veritable explosions of luminous reds and blues, as in
demic gowns (see Pl. 200 below). They stalk amid the the painting he called "Dance 11" (Pl. 183). The flam-
fields, providing dark vertical counterpoints to the hori- ing reds, which Srihadi seldom used during his Ban-
zontal planes. The dark masses of a suggested structure dung student days, "came upon him," he said, while he
on the left may be a fishery research station with hints was on the plane en route from Indonesia to the United
of nets above and two little fish below. The sheds with States; somehow they were connected in his feelings
dark roofs in the background may indicate plantation with his tropical homeland.
agriculture, perhaps tobacco, which requires such in- This turning toward Indonesia was strengthened
stallations for the drying of the leaves. Srihadi used the during the time he and Muchtar were studying in the
same devices in his other three panels, each a unified, United States. It is a truism, but too often forgotten,
well-balanced, serene composition. that going abroad as a student, or even as a visitor, does
Esthetically and technically, all the young painters not only mean learning foreign skills or getting an in-
had admirably met the essential requirements of their sight into foreign culture. It also, more importantly
Plate 183. "Dance II," by Srihadi Sudarsono, 1961.
 THE GREAT DEBATE [239]

perhaps, means obtaining a perspective on, gaining new into a valley bounded in the far distance by bluish
insights into, and re-evaluating one's own commitments mountains overhung with clouds (see Pl. 199 below).
to the homeland. This subject has been depicted by Java's landscape
"Bandung" in the mid-fifties was a center for a new painters over and over again ever since Abdullah the
Western-influenced esthetic. No works of the Bandung elder painted his soft panoramas. But Kartono's land-
school of painters were in the collection of President scape sparkled with color and was wedded to light
Sukarno or of the State. Neither had any been pl.lf- rather than to the humid haze of the tropics. It was not
chased by the Art Division of the Cultural Office which any one particular landscape, but rather a synthesis of
has a collection of its own. But, despite its unpopular- the island's glories made young. Kartono was not satis-
ity, no pressure was exerted to change the school's fied with his "Rice Fields"; its foreground perplexed
style and educational methods. When Mulder left in him. Evidently, he could not solve the problem, since
1959 the young artists he had trained took over. By that he later literally covered up these "Rice Fields" with an-
time appreciation for their work was beginning to other flowering jungle, although a very different one
grow. They were receiving commissions for murals from the "Orchids." He was having a similar problem
and favorable comments on their exhibitions; they were with the "Orchids." "My focus always seems to be 'be-
selling their paintings and finding a growing demand yond,'" he remarked, "so I have trouble with the fore-
for their services in interior and furniture design. They ground." And, as if to console himself, he once ob-
had been designing pottery at a small ceramics factory served, "The world is never 'finished,' why should a
in Bandung since their student days, and by 1959 its painting be?"
products had become very popular and were sold in At the age of thirty-one, Kartono had close to 25
most major cities. Thus, the Bandung artists are be- years of painting experience, since he had been a child
coming the direct or indirect source for Indonesia's prodigy who painted landscapes and street scenes at
modern design. Emancipated from the classroom, and seven. Encouraged by his father, an art teacher, he
enriched by experiences abroad, they can now continue painted continuously. Unlike most artists in Jogja, who
to crystallize their predilections. were largely self-taught or who had studied with older
Bandung had another vital art institution in the self-taught Indonesian painters, Kartono was trained
person of the late Kartono Yudhokusumo. On the In- by schooled, professional painters, Dutch and Japanese.
donesian art scene, he was discussed in the same breath It was the Indonesian painter Sudibio, however, who
with art associations and schools. His Sanggar Seniman had made a lasting impression on him. Kartono, always
(Artist's Studio), built in 1952, nestled at the edge of spoke of Sudibio with affection and admiration, unre-
palm-dotted rice fields along the Siliwangi Road skirt- servedly acknowledging an indebtedness to him. His
ing the town. It was a compact structure with a dark favorite European painter was, of course, Rousseau.
exterior; but when one entered it, the world expanded A slender young man with a large vivid face sur-
and burst into color. mounted by a mass of wavy black hair, lit up by flash-
When I first visited Kartono's studio in 1955, on one ing teeth and the gleaming whites of his eyes, Kartono
easel stood an arresting canvas in brilliant colors, an wore an air of childish ingenuousness. Sometimes one
exotic fairy tale with no heroes other than the fantastic was not quite certain whether his artless frankness,
plant world (Pl. 184). The painting, called "Orchids," naive questions, and complete freedom in discussing his
evoked simultaneous associations with work by Rous- appetites were unadulterated expressions of his nature
seau and Walt Disney. It had, however, neither the or whether they were, perhaps, tinged with shrewdness.
massive cohesion of the former nor the slickness of the It was certain, however, that Kartono had a great ap-
latter. It was difficult to dwell on the total effect of the petite for life, a tremendous capacity for enjoyment. At
carefully painted blossoms and foliage. The eye was the same time, he was able to get along on very little
immediately impelled to wander from cluster to cluster money when, periodically, his resources dwindled. He
and tempted to try to penetrate the restless flowering accepted life as it came and as it was: "I am never dis-
jungle, to a turquoise pool and beyond. appointed because I never expect anything." With this
On another easel, there was a large painting, a jubi- lack of expectations and illusions went a kind of im-
lant vista. Recessed from a mass of deep purples in the personal modesty; at times his presence was no more
foreground, terraced rice fields cascaded from two sides obtrusive than that of a pebble or a plant.
[ 240] MODERN ART

The image of Kartono, in the minds of all who knew motorcycle), and the children under the pines (Pl.
him, was inseparable from his motorcycle, his greatest 185).
treasure, an adored steed decorated like a circus horse. "Dieng," painted in 1949, combines two different
Painted red at one time, it was promptly repainted pea- styles, reflecting Kartono's transition from naturalism
green when two other red motorcycles appeared on the to the more spectacularly decorative. The carefully
Bandung scene. To Kartono, his motorcycle meant painted pines in the right foreground have a very dif-
movement, speed, access to the beautiful countryside, ferent "tone of voice" than the rest of the painting, the
in short, freedom. Riding it, he met his death. bold masses of gay cloud formations, the iridescent
Kartono cannot be grouped with any of his contem- crater walls, the luminous turquoise lake.
poraries, so strongly does his style set him apart. His After crystallizing his "decorative" style, Kartono
later style was described by most of his colleagues as continued to study nature, constantly sketching and
"decorative." Indeed in such a painting as "Orchids," painting outdoors. He drew upon these studies for his
the decorative element, which asserted itself in ever more stylized studio compositions. Of his students he
stronger measure from 1949 on, is dominant. But many expected not only a love of their art but above all a
of Kartono's paintings convey far more than pleasure love of nature. His own naturalistic paintings were
in artfully composed shapes and colors. For instance, very competent and by far superior to the products
his delight in nature and his joy of life pervade the of the commercial landscape painters who abounded in
painting "Dieng." It expresses an emotional state, an Bandung. He used them as potboilers-they sold easily
exuberance, better perhaps than most of his subsequent and kept him alive while he took infinite care and a
paintings. The naive joy is accentuated by the holiday v·ery long time to complete what he considered his
mood of the figures-the painter himself in primrose "real paintings." It was typical of Kartono that there
pants, blue blouse, and golden straw hat, his wife was not a trace of snobbery in his attitude toward the
sketching nearby, the bicycles (predecessors of the commercial landscape painters. On the contrary, he felt

Plate 184. "Orchids," by Kartono Yudhokusumo, 1955.

Plate 185. "Dieng," by Kartono Yudhokusumo, 1949.

respect and affection for them, regarding them as hon- The intellectual constructions of semiabstract com-
est and skillful craftsmen without pretensions. He was positions as practiced at "Seni Rupa" were just as alien
less tolerant of Sudjojono with whom he had grown to Kartono as was "Jogja's" socially oriented art. What
up* and had once admired. "I always hoped he would he did have in common with the "Seni Rupa" school
become a great man," Kartono said. "It is difficult to was a very conscious appreciation of craftsmanship and
accept what happened to him-we cannot be friends the basic conviction that the picture is the thing.
any longer." Before Kartono was killed on a slippery curve which
Although Kartono knew well and had been associ- his speeding motorcycle failed to negotiate, he had had
ated with many of Jogja's leading artists, he had little one near-fatal accident. Upon returning home, he
in common with their approach to art. Social content painted a landscape, the title of which retains his feel-
in painting did not interest him in the least. He seldom ings, "I'm So Glad to Be Alive." How Kartono's art
painted people. Apart from a few portraits, people ap- would have developed had he lived cannot be guessed,
pear in his paintings, as in "Dieng" or in a gay compo- but in him Indonesia has prematurely lost a sincere
sition called "Bandung," only as parts of the landscape and gifted artist. Out of loyalty and affection, the group
in almost the same spirit as do the human figures that of young teachers at "Seni Rupa" have cooperatively
populate a Balinese painting. In fact, Rousseau and taken over Kartono's Sanggar Seniman. It continues to
other influences notwithstanding, Kartono's art was be a studio for private students in memory of the artist.
perhaps closest in spirit to that of some young Balinese As mentioned earlier, Kartono was devoted to and
painters who depict the loveliness of their world with admired the painter Sudibio, and we shall stop here
naive freshness. for a glimpse of this artist even though he does not
* See Appendix IV for details. actually belong to the Bandung scene. In fact, Sudibio
Plate 186. "Panorama," by S. Sudibio, 1953.

does not belong to any art community in the three chant for surrealism which already appeared in an early
cities which we are visiting, but lives in relative isola- self-portrait (see PI. I 94 below) became stronger in
tion in Madiun, half-incapacitated by a depressive state time, as his fantasies grew darker and more morbid.
and cared for by his sister. His closest companion In 1953 Sudibio painted the charming "Panorama"
there is the painter lsmono who lives nearby. A sensi- (PI. l 86) where, between the foreground and the coni-
tive, mild-mannered but courageous and formerly devil- cal mountains at the back, there are a number of little
may-care character, in the early fifties he fell into a worlds to be explored. As in some Chinese paintings,
state of melancholia, yet continued to paint. His pen- the eye is made to follow a road curving inward and
 THE GREAT DEBATE [243)

upward. A whimsical (or perhaps half-mystical) note hind this house another tree-lined road winds from left
emanates from the fantastic round, sunlike trees which to right into the distance, toward the foot of the moun-
sprout from the mountaintops-a startling transforma- tains and past two more pairs of small houses where
tion of volcanic fire and smoke into smiling symbols of tiny figures, one of a man and one of a woman, ap-
life and growth that guard the land below. Like deli- proach their dwellings.
cate lacework, the painting has a general undulating A loving involvement and delicacy emanate from the
movement and falls into separate clusters of self- landscape with all its minute details. The different
contained units. varieties of trees are alive, expressive. The architecture
A crowd of village women in the foreground to the of the houses is carefully delineated and even the roof
left, with their backs to the spectator, arc recognizable tiles are painstakingly drawn. The soft cadences of the
by their shoulder scarves and heavy hairknots. Entering movement of the terrain, with the staccato of scattered
the tree-lined road that leads into the picture, one dark dots suggesting stones develop into idyllic tunes as
meets first a peasant woman carrying a child and ac- one reaches the little worlds around the houses.
companied by a girl. Following the curving path, one A last glimpse of Kartono-the mountain landscape
then overtakes a man with a pitchfork and, a short he painted in 1955 (Pl. 187) is practically the opposite
distance away, two villagers with baskets suspended of Sudibio's in every respect. As in a piece of fantastic
from shoulder poles. At this point the road forks. Ahead achitecture, the complex elements of Kartono's compo-
lies a wider roadway; it leads up to a mansion fronted sition form a massive unity. The painting evokes the
by a reception pavilion (pendopo) with the tall pyra- remoteness of a petrified world on the tops of volcanoes.
midal roof typical of East Java. To the left lies another The sharply defined, jagged outlines of the crater walls
complex-a small house half-hidden by trees with an with their clearly modeled folds, the pointed peaks and
adjoining shed where several women are at work. Be- flattened tops, stand out starkly against a soft sky with

Plate 187. "Craters," by Kartono Yudhokusumo, 1956.

 [ 244] MODERN ART

billowing clouds. The sky's diffuseness enhances try and its worst slums. Its inhabitants include the
the abruptness a.nd precision of the rock formations. In most highly educated and enlightened citizens and the
color, reddish browns and grays of the petrified masses most dejected, ignorant urban proletariat. Between the
are enlivened by the light turquoise of two crater lakes palace of the President, or the air-conditioned de luxe
surrounded by the rock walls. The whole scene is Hotel Indonesia, and the shanties of the kampungs lies
bathed in brilliant, hard light. Like Sudibio, Kartono Djakarta's commercial, administrative, and residential
too seems to pay homage to the power of creation, but body, a vast, sprawling organism.
not in its benevolent promise of fertility. He depicts In the mid-fifties, the hectic traffic of the capital was
awesome desolation, the forbidding aspects of nature, enlivened but also made more hazardous by thousands
the eternity of hard rock that guards under the sun the of tricycle pedicabs, the betja, which were carriers not
mysteries of dark crevices and luminous pools. only of passengers and their bundles but also of a spe-
In 1954 Sudibio transmuted his personal agonies cial kind of urban folk art, a betja art. No betja was
into a romantically surrealistic painting (Pl. 188) he complete without a painting on the back of its car-
called "Inspiration." Perhaps his unhappy love life riage.*
made him depict female figures holding weapons in The majority of betja paintings were stereotype Chi-
their hands. In "Inspiration" a paint brush and a tube nese landscapes produced by Chinese or copied by In-
of paint are the muse's attributes. Behind her haloed, donesians from models supplied by Chinese entrepre-
Boating figure looms the painter's own head-half face, neurs who hired out their Heets of vehicles to Indo-
half skull, which can also be read as two adjacent pro- nesian drivers. But there were also among the betja
files. Transparent, stunted trees seem to sway in the paintings colorful original panels-naive depictions of
indeterminate setting of wind-blown drapes and little pretty girls, of fantastic winged horses with blond fe-
clouds. At the feet of the muse rises a miniature dream male riders, a circus scene, or a landscape with an
city with Hat, rectangular, semicircular and towering idyllic mountain lake. The betja paintings were pro-
structures, some with lighted pinnacles. It is like a con- duced with great speed (I have seen one completed
struction made of matchsticks in its meticulous execu- within 35 minutes) for fees ranging between 15 and
tion, as obsessively precise as the hair-fine pattern on 25 rupiah.t On a flat, usually sky-blue background
the woman's jacket. From behind the dream city prepared in advance, often by a child or an aged rela-
emerges a large disembodied hand holding a crystal tive, the betja painter outlined the figures and colored
ball. A grotesquely large, painted vase emerges in the them with amazing dexterity and without any model
upper right corner. The helpless little Hames that Ricker before him.
symmetrically in the trail of the muse, the little lights On the prestige ladder of Djakarta's artists, betja
on the spires of the toylike city, and the luminosity of painters were below the lowest rung. At its top were
the crystal ball do not dispel but rather enhance the the relatively wealthy salon or "palace" painters. Never-
gloom of his fantasmagoria. theless, a betja decorator, settled in his modest little
house in a kampung, could be better off than the
young artist struggling for recognition who also
Djakarta lived in a kampung but in direst poverty. Between a
painter like Dullah, who had a suite in the palace as
Like any metropolis, Djakarta is a great market place, curator of the Presidential and the State art collections,
a central exchange for all variety of goods, services, and and an artist like Nashar, who barely survived in a hut,
ideas-from peanuts to automobiles, from garbage re- were the many salaried professionals. Some, like Oes-
moval to high political office, from expertise in cos- man Effendi and Baharudin, worked as illustrators and
metics to connoisseurship in paintings. The capital is
the nation's literary center, home of a budding motion
~ New regulations prescribing solidly colored betja bodies
picture industry, a modern theater academy, and of the and the introduction of motorized betjas (hemo's) in the sixties
most knowledgeable art critics. In Djakarta are the have practically abolished "betja art."
headquarters for the nationwide mass media and for t Similar prices were charged in 1955-1956 in Jogjakarta's
market shops for the paintings on glass made by folk artists.
national organizations in every conceivable field. The In the same year, 1956, oil paintings by the People's Painters
city has the most luxurious establishments in the coun- were priced between 1,000 and 10,000 rupiah.
 THE GREAT DEBATE [245]

designers with publishing houses and the press; others, Nusantara), and in the Youth Building (Gedung
like Basuki Resobowo and Zaini, specialized in the de- Pemuda). A new art gallery, run by the Foundation for
sign of stage decors. The country's best cartoonists, Indonesian Art and Design C]ajasan Seni dan Design
"Sibarani," S. Soeharto, and "Ran" among them, also Indonesia), was established in the suburb Kebajoran
were employed in the capital. Dukut Hendronoto, an in 1958. By exhibiting in Djakarta an artist hoped to
exceptionally gifted film-cartoonist also working in come to the attention of the most important patrons and
Djakarta, given the resources, might have emerged as possibly sell a painting to them-first of all President
Indonesia's Disney. In 1963 he was giving drawing les- Sukarno, then the well-to-do Indonesian and Chinese
sons to children on a Djakarta television program. art collectors, the foreign embassies, individual mem-
Large art shows were held in Djakarta's only perma- bers of the diplomatic corps, and other foreign residents
nent art gallery, the Balai Budaya (Hall of Culture), of the capital. As anywhere in the world, an artist
and also in the Hotel des Indes (now Duta Indonesia), might have to incur heavy debts in order to finance an
in the former Dutch club Harmonie (now Wisma exhibition in the capital. Thus, a one-man show by

Plate 188. "Inspiration," by S. Sudibio, 1954.

 [ 246] MODERN ART

Harijadi in 1957 called for an outlay of close to 25,000 Siregar in Medan. At headquarters in Djakarta, the
rupiah but only about 12,000 rupiah were realized painters Henk Ngantung and Basuki Resobowo, who
from the sale of three paintings. It was not clear who succeeded the former in the sixties, played leading
covered the deficit. roles. The branch leadership adhered to central direc-
From Djakarta radiated country-wide influences af- tives for recruitment and for the development of their
fecting the life and work of artists in the provinces. substantive programs. Each branch was divided into
From the provinces, in turn, came impulses to which separate sections devoted to literature, drama, painting,
the capital responded through its various central organi- and dancing. In addition, the branch had one section
zations, each a sort of cultural switchboard. The or- called rcalis dinamo, translated as "the realist-dynamo"
ganizations most directly concerned with the arts were or perhaps "dynamic realist." This was a group active
the Cultural Office of the Ministry of Education and in the production of entertaining popular shows inter-
two nongovernmental, rival art federations-the Coun- woven with propaganda. Lekra was thus more tightly
cil on National Culture, or BMKN (Badan Musja- organized than the BMKN.
warat Kebudajaan Nasional) and the Institute for BMKN's goals and programs were all-encompassing,
People's Culture, or Lekra (Lembaga Kebudajaan their central aim being the development of the nation's
Rakjat). culture. Such an aim could provide only diffuse guide-
The BMKN, founded in 1952, was an apolitical lines. The federation was envisaged as an all-sheltering
body subsidized by the Government. Lekra, established "roof organization" which would coordinate the cul-
in 1950, was distinctly Communist-oriented with ap- tural life of the country and direct it toward a national
parently adequate funds, the sources of which could orientation. With a few notable exceptions, however,
not easily be traced. Both organizations collected mem- especially in the literary field, BMKN's wide-ranging
bership dues and, in both cases, these could not nearly aims were rarely implemented with concrete, detailed,
meet their expenses. and systematic programs of action.
The membership of BMKN consisted of organiza- BMKN's achievements lay principally in the promo-
tions as well as individuals. At its inception in 1952, it tion of contemporary literature. The organization's
counted among its members 120 art associations in leadership coincided in part with the editorial staff of
Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, about a dozen cultural and its monthly journal, Indonesia, which at one time or
educational bodies, including the P.E.N. Club, the another included such prominent writers and essayists
Taman Siswa Schools, Jogjakarta's Art Academy as Achdiat K. Mihardja, Armijn Pane, and Boejoeng
(ASRI), and regional foundations. Lekra was also a Saleh. Trisno Sumardjo-author, translator of Shake-
member of the BMKN. BMKN's individual members speare's plays and other English works into Indonesian,
were concentrated in Djakarta. They were leading in- art critic and painter-worked for years on BMKN's
tellectuals-writers, journalists, painters, musicians, secretarial and editorial staff. Oesman Effendi was ac-
and dramatists-and also doctors, lawyers, and high- tive in the preparation of the periodical too. Apart from
placed officials interested in cultural affairs. BMKN essays on art and literature, domestic and foreign, In-
was thus a variegated agglomeration of persons and donesia published poetry, short stories, plays, and arti-
organizations with widely scattered interests in the arts cles concerned with Indonesia's cultural problems.
and sciences and often competing ideologies. Sketches and paintings by Indonesian artists were
Lekra had established 18 provincial branches headed printed on the cover and interspersed with the text.
by representatives who recruited local members and BMKN also contributed written materials for use by
directed their activities. Its membership was gradually the mass media, the radio, the daily press or magazines,
being molded into a homogeneous body closely tied to and sponsored art classes in the gallery Balai Budaya.
Lekra's ideology. In some cases, a Lekra branch seemed Furthermore, the biannual cultural congresses or-
co coincide with an existing local organization, as with ganized by BMKN were the principal forums for the
SIM in Jogjakarta. The heads of Lekra's provincial continuing debate on the prevailing condition and fu-
branches were usually well-known artists or writers- ture of Indonesian culture. At these congresses resolu-
at one time Sudjojono and later Suromo in Jogja, the tions were passed to stimulate both governmental and
painter Mohammed Hadi in Solo, and the writer Bakri nongovernmental support of the arts. The congress re-
 THE GREAT DEBATE [ 247]
ports are significant documents, reflecting the problems offered to artists coveted opportunities, especially the
and recording the controversies that highlight Indo- distinction of being shown in the capital. It also paid
nesia's modern cultural history. the high costs of transporting paintings and sculptures
Lekra, on the other hand, in conjunction with its to the place of exhibition. Thus, in 1957, Amrus Nat-
vaguely formulated declaration of general principles, alsja's huge wood sculptures were shipped from Jogja to
had very concrete programs of action for each separate Djakarta with Lekra's help. In 1956-1957, it had also
art field, and these were systematically implemented launched a fund-raising campaign to build a House of
by its branch organizations. The declaration of its aim Culture in Djakarta, perhaps to serve as a permanent
included the following statements: exhibition hall to augment if not to rival the facilities
offered by the Balai Budaya which at that time was
. . . Lekra gives active support to everything that is new
and progressive, Lekra actively assists in the demolition of administered by BMKN. This hall opened August 16,
the remainders of colonial "culture" which has left a 1959, just in time for the Republic's Independence Day
part of our people in dark ignorance, with feelings of in- celebrations.
feriority and with weakness of character. Lekra accepts While Lekra maintained art centers and studios in
our ancestral heritage critically and studies carefully all its all provincial capitals, BMKN's only directly sponsored
aspects, just as it does the classical creations of other peo- art classes were conducted beginning in 1957 in the
ples anywhere, and thus creatively endeavors to further Balai Budaya. BMKN could not offer its members the
the great tradition of our history and our nation, directing same range of facilities as Lekra. It had no proper ap-
it toward a new culture which is rational and scientific. paratus for organizing local activities or for the distri-
Lekra proposes to its members, but also to other artists,
bution of art materials even if it could have obtained
scholars, and cultural workers who are outside Lekra, that
a supply through purchase or as a gift from some donor.
they study . . . the actual truth in life, and be faithful to
truth and reality. BMKN's funds were rather limited. Apart from mem-
In the arts, Lekra supports creative initiative, creative bership dues it depended largely on the Government's
daring, and Lekra agrees with every form, every style, etc., subsidy* which often lagged and at one point in 1956
so long as it is faithful to truth and meets the highest was six months in arrears. Sporadic fund-raising
standards of artistic beauty. schemes were discussed but more often than not re-
In short, in repudiating the antihuman, antisocial char- mained in the talking stage. Because it was devoted
acter of the culture that is not-of-the-people, in repudiating to seeking a national culture, BMKN could not accept
the violations of truth and beauty, Lekra helps shape a new financial help from foreign sources either.
society capable of self-advancement, a society developing BMKN lingered on, but its activities were almost
its individuality which is both multifaceted and harmoni-
paralyzed. Its journal Indonesia continued to be pub-
ous.19
lished by the Foundation for Cultural Publications
Demanding "firm adherence to the people," Lekra's C]ajasan Penerbit Kebudajaan). BMKN's decline was
declared working principles were "reciprocal help, mu- due to a number of causes, its financial problems and
tual criticism, and comradely discussion of the problems organizational defects among them. But in large part
of creativity." 20 To members interested in painting, it was also due to the BMKN leadership's inability to
Lekra offered: a local studio, art materials, discussion meet and counter Lekra's aggressive tactics. While
meetings, exhibitions of their works along with other Lekra initially was a member-association of BMKN, it
Lekra members from all parts of the country. The word- soon became its worst enemy. A number of Lekra's
ing of the Lekra statement cited above suggests that active members, having retained membership in
nonmembers might participate in local exhibitions BMKN as individuals, often outtalked and outvoted
under Lekra's auspices but not in Lekra exhibitions on BMKN's other members at its congresses, causing dis-
a national scale. ruption and disaffection. Several succeeded in gaining
The distribution of art materials to professionals and seats on the BMKN executive board and effectively
students alike was a great inducement for joining Lekra obstructed its activities.
since supplies were scarce and very expensive. Success- Another reason for the decline of BMKN lay in the
ful promotion of artists, however, was perhaps Lekra's
greatest attraction. In sponsoring exhibitions, Lekra * The monthly subsidy in 1956 was 15,000 rupiah.
[ 248] MODERN ART

changing focus of the Great Debate. BMKN's leader- portrait painted by Abdullah, certain that she would
ship was regarded by the authorities as insufficiently appear glamorously lovely. Abdullah also painted large
nationalistic while official policy was hardening in landscapes, heroic subjects, and legendary themes. His
favor of an explicitly nationalistic art. In mid-1959, the romantic and flamboyant style appealed to many mem-
Indonesian Nationalist Party (P.N.I.), in a bid for bers of the Indonesian upper and middle classes and
cultural leadership, formed the Institute for National was favored by the President. A painting by Abdullah
Culture (Lemhaga Kebudajaan Nasional or LKN) hangs behind the President's desk. It depicts the Indo-
with the writer and poet Sitor Situmorang as chair- nesian national hero, Diponegoro, in a storm-blown
man."" Not surprisingly, less than six months after white mantle, mounted on a fiery black stallion against
Lekra's 1959 Congress in the Sriwedari amusement a blazing background suggestive of a conflagration. The
park in Solo, LKN held its first congress in the same majority of Abdullah paintings in the President's pri-
place. Two months later, on August 17th, President vate collection 22 portray beautiful young women; one
Sukarno proclaimed his "Manipol-Usdek" doctrine.t depicts the rape of Sita, and another the goddess of the
With this political manifesto, the President redefined Southern Ocean, Njahi Rora (or Loro) Kidul. She
the state philosophy. Its basic principles were to be the emerges from the depths amid dark stormy waves, not
1945 Constitution, Indonesian Socialism, Guided De- unlike a lovely bejeweled society hostess in evening
mocracy, Guided Economy, and National Personality. gown, somewhat drenched. The painter's craftsman-
It is the last principle, with its stress on national iden- ship in his particular style is superb.
tity, that became the guideline for the development of Lee Man Fong was dean of the Chinese-Indonesian
the arts. And thus, theoretically at least, the Great painters who were organized in the Yin Hua art asso-
Debate was settled in favor of a national-oriented art. ciation founded in 1955 and which in 1959 had 124
The Debate could continue only as regards the par- members.""
ticular forms appropriate to expressing Indonesian "Na- The major function of the organization has been to
tional Personality." 21 In the BMKN-LKN-Lekra tri- arrange exhibits for its members, which have been held
angle of the early sixties, BMKN became a somewhat frequently in Djakarta hotels or in their own gallery,
impotent residue of the "liberal" orientation toward the "Tati," located on Prinsenpark in Djakarta. Following
arts; the LKN became the proponent of the official a large exhibition by Yin Hua artists, the association
nationalist line and a rival of Lekra; and Lekra itself, was invited to send a delegation to the People's Repub-
while subscribing to the principle of "National Per- lic of China. In the latter half of 1956, Lee Man Fong
sonality," continued to promote Communist ideology. led a selected group of Chinese-Indonesian artists to
Further politicizing the art sphere, the left-wing social- China, where they visited for about five months, ar-
ist party Murba and the conservative Islamic party ranging exhibits in Peking and Canton.
Nahdatul Ulama (N.U.) had also established their Despite his European schooling, Lee Man Fong has
own cultural organizations. retained an unmistakable Chinese flavor in his art. He
It seems fairly clear that the competition for "the left China when still a child but may have absorbed
soul of the artist" directed from the capital will con- its culture during his youth in Singapore. Neverthe-
tinue. In reality, however, the organizations have more less, having made Indonesia his homeland and painting
influence on the artists' social and economic circum- prolifically there, he has developed a unique stylistic
stances and their political outlooks than on their art. syncretism.
In the mid-fifties among Djakarta's painters, the "big It is a curious sensation to see an Indonesian food
names" were Basuki Abdullah, Lee Man Fong, and vendor through Lee Man Fong's eyes (Pl. 190). In his
Henk Ngantung. Their reputations rested on very dif- painting "Sate Vendor," two worlds converge to create
ferent foundations. a new one. The subject is Indonesian: a vendor fan-
Basuki Abdullah was the salon painter par excel- ning the fire and roasting tidbits before his portable
lence. Many a society woman dreamed of having her bamboo stall. His figure is harmoniously elongated and

* Reportedly he was no longer heading LKN in 1964. * Another Chinese-Indonesian art center was the Mung May
t Manipol is an abbreviation for Political Manifesto; association in Malang, East Java, where the painter Lim Kwee
Usdek are the initial letters of the five principles enumerated Bing conducted an art school with predominantly Chinese
below. students.
Plate 189. "Portrait of Mrs. A. K. Gani,"
by Basuki Abdullah, 1952.

the fragility of his limbs is stressed. His air of concen- fish or lotus leaves with dragonflies in traditional Chi-
tration is mixed with an "awayness" and spreads into nese manner while picturesque Djakarta street corners
the stillness which dominates the painting. The "Chi- and portraits are painted in sturdy, naturalistic Western
nese space" behind the vendor augments this feeling. fashion.
It is deepened by the jagged branch with tender leaves The third prominent figure on Djakarta's art scene,
above the stall which echoes the calligraphy of the Henk Ngantung, owed his reputation partly to his
Chinese characters on the left. The quality of the competence as a painter and partly to his influential
whole composition is one of delicate tenuity. position. He was chairman of Lekra's central committee
Some of the other Chinese-Indonesian painters have and sat on juries which selected works for exhibitions
also developed a syncretic style of their own; some, like at home and abroad. In 1954, he led a cultural mission
the Djakarta painter Lee Siang Yun, pursue two dis- to the People's Republic of China which took a selec-
tinct styles simultaneously. Lee Siang Yun paints gold- tion of 95 paintings for exhibition. In 1955, Ngantung
[250] MODERN ART

was elected to Parliament. In 1961, he became vice- cowherds, portraits of friends and the people of Bali.
mayor of Djakarta and his career as an artist was over- Like some of his colleagues, he painted in more than
shadowed by his administrative functions. one style. His portrait sketches are dynamic and ex-
Ngantung painted landscapes and waterfront views pressive. In one composition with three figures of Bali-
in vigorous fresh colors and these were probably closest nese girls the treatment, is free, has living movement,
to his heart. He also painted betja drivers (Pl. 191), and a distinct, mellow mood. In contrast, a painting of
a Balinese girl in the President's collection is a static,
Plate 190. "Sate Vendor," by Lee Man Fong. bland, near-photographic rendering of a picturesque
subject.
The activities of Djakarta's other artists were more
submerged in the daily bustle of the capital. None of
them had the influential position of Henk Ngantung
and few of them came to public attention with gran-
diose one-man shows such as were instituted from time
to time by Basuki Abdullah. But some were actually or
potentially more significant artists.
Between 1948 and 1958 many of Djakarta's artists
belonged to the now defunct League of Indonesian
Painters or CPI (Gabungan Pelukis Indonesia), of
which Affandi was one of the founders and which was
headed by the art teacher and painter Sutiksna. At
CPI's modest headquarters, its members gathered for
painting classes and maintained a small exhibition of
their works. A group of young painters split off from
CPI in 1957 and formed their own art association,
Matahari (The Sun), under the leadership of Mardian.
Of the Matahari group only Mardian came to public
notice in the mid-fifties with an exhibition at the Balai
Buda ya, though some of his associates such as W akid-
jan, Wetik, and Nashar were known to be promising
artists. Mardian himself was evolving an agitated style
in riotous colors applied in dots and daubs with prac-
tically no delineation of shapes. One of his paintings,
"Indonesia in 1956," is a coherent expression of dis-
orientation which one is tempted to compare with some
cave paintings that seem to be incoherent statements
about orientation in the world. After four years in
Jogjakarta, where he was a student of ASRI and a
member of SIM working under Sudjojono, Mardian
moved to Djakarta in 1954. Thereafter his work ap-
pears to have shed every trace of his Jogjakarta school-
ing and ideological indoctrination. The only principle
he seemed to espouse was the need to "seek for one-
self"; his paintings showed this in full measure.
Of the older and more mature artists, Oesman Ef-
fendi and T risno Sumardjo not only practiced art but
also thought and wrote about it. Neither of them had
enough time and resources to exhibit his works in the
years 1955-1957. The only works by these artists which
 Plate 19 I. "Betja Driver," by Henk N gantung, 1947.

I had a chance to examine and photograph were among Under the leadership of Gaos Harjasumantri of the
the series of forty paintings of historical scenes intended BMKN, Oesman Effendi, Trisno Sumardjo, and Zaini
as visual aids in the teaching of Indonesian history in founded in 1958 the Jajasan Seni dan Design Indonesia
secondary schools.<- This series was prepared by them (Foundation for Indonesian Art and Design), which
together with Zaini and Basuki Resobowo. Since the has developed one of the best art galleries in Greater
style of these paintings was necessarily conditioned by Djakarta.
their intended use in the classroom, they could not The isolated figure of the late Emiria Sunassa also
be regarded as representative of the artists who painted belonged to the Djakarta art scene. She was the only
them. They have historical interest and, in addition, renowned woman painter of the older generation. A
they demonstrate the artists' skill in presenting scenes daughter of the last Sultan of Tidore, an island domain
of Indonesian history in a manner acceptable to schools. in Eastern Indonesia, she took up painting when she
was over forty. Shortly before World War II, her works
• These paintings were on view on the premises of the pub-
lishing house F ASCO in Djakarta, which produced the color
were exhibited by the Union of Art Circles (Bond van
prints for use in schools. Kunstkringen) and elicited favorable comments. She
 [ 252] MODERN ART

continued to paint during the Japanese occupation and Agus to escape from politically infested urban Java to
afterward. A few of Emiria Sunassa's works show a house on the beach and the color-drenched theatri-
flashes of power and originality. One of her best can- calism of Balinese life.
vasses is "Dayak Wedding," an unhesitating, strong, Otto Djaja settled in Semarang on Java's north coast
and integrated statement with a tribal ceremonial as and maintained close contact with Djakarta. Unlike
subject. The array of five figures behind a festively his brother, he has a sense of humor which lends a
decked table with a row of gongs at its foot is simple piquant touch to some of his paintings. In the riotous
and static. Yet the painting, with its deep shadows and sketch, "Family Outing," Otto reveals himself as a
contrasting light surfaces, conveys an intensity similar skillful caricaturist. He depicts the exultation of "Sun-
to that of a heroic tale of bygone ages or of the deep day drivers" on a bicycle, which in Indonesia serves
voices of tribesmen chanting. The painting must have as pack mule and family car (Pl. l 92). He is also an
been inspired by Emiria Sunassa's personal contact excellent illustrator, and has provided delightful color
with Dayak life in Borneo in the nineteen-thirties. illustrations for a booklet called "Pasundan."
Later, as the impact of her impressions there faded, she In Semarang, Otto Djaja has given great encourage-
turned to other subjects, some imaginary and symbolic, ment to the barber-painter Sugianto, in whose shop he
but none comparable in strength and cohesion to sometimes exhibited his paintings. "Yanto" was one of
"Dayak Wedding." Java's rare naive painters whose art was sincere and
Finally, though not living in the capital, the brothers very touching. Otto Djaja seemed to have recognized
Agus and Otto Djaja* are significant figures, each con- this and had not undertaken to become his teacher.
nected with Djakarta in his own way. Agus is an "old- Among the amateurs a significant group were mem-
timer"; in 1934, he was already teaching art and in bers of the Indonesian Armed Forces, who were en-
1938 he was, with Sudjojono, a founder of Persagi. couraged by higher officers to practice the arts in their
For many years thereafter he was in the forefront of the leisure time. In November, 1954 the Association of
Indonesian modern art movement. In the late forties, Armed Forces' Amateurs of the Fine Arts was formed,
he earned recognition abroad when he spent two years which published a bulletin devoted to the study of
in Europe with his younger brother Otto. While there, painting and modeling. In the years 1955 and 1956
he painted one of his best canvasses, "Kuda Lumping the association held at least four exhibitions in Dja-
I." It portrays the wildness of an entranced hobby- karta as well as in Bandung. The associations's secre-
horse dancer. The agitated scene is full of tension ac- tary, Lieutenant Colonel Ashari, himself an amateur
centuated by the highlighted staring eyes of the dancer painter, was particularly active in promoting these
and of his flat bamboo horse, by the impetus of his efforts, as was Lieutenant Colonel Widya. The works
stiffened body, and by the flashing undulation of the of the military artists were offered for sale and in l 956
whip. There is great spontaneity and daring in line the prices for their paintings ranged from 200 to 4,000
and color. The brothers Djaja influenced each other rupiah.
very strongly. Some of Otto's renderings of folk !if~ The catalogue of an exhibition held, following
very much resemble those of his brother; they have the Armed Forces Day, in early October, 1955, in Bandung
same agitated quality. Nocturnal glee pervades his listed 82 paintings by 27 participants, among whom
painting of a fighting dance in which costumed girls were officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Mili-
posture in the light of a torch. In the mid-fifties, the tary Police Corps, and a few civilians. A few pastels
brothers parted ways. Agus retired to Bali and became and watercolors appeared, but the majority of the paint-
a glamorous painter of the "last paradise," appealing to ings were oils. The subjects were treated naturalistic-
the ready tourist market. Like that of Sudjojono, his ally for the most part, and the paintings were executed
reputation is based on past rather than present achieve- with various degrees of competence. They included
ments. Both Agus Djaja and Sudjojono had once given landscapes, portraits, a few still lifes, folk scenes, two
up their earlier expressionist styles in favor of more representations of dancers ( one Dayak and one Bali-
literal manners, but for diametrically opposed reasons: nese), and two of animals-a wild buffalo and a cat.
Sudjojono for the sake of social protest and propaganda, The only mythological subject was a depiction of Dewa
* Their full names are Agus Djajasuminta and Otto Djaja- Rutji, the little replica of Bima symbolizing the tower-
suntara. ing hero's spiritual self.
 Plate 192. "Family Outing," by Otto Djaja, 1956.

On the back of the catalogue was printed a quota- the people. Bandung defended a purely esthetic ap-
tion from Plato: that soldiers should be trained in the proach and the position that art was international.
arts as well as in sports for the attainment of a balanced Djakarta was the arena for the continuing debate where
physical and spiritual development; that exclusive con- the intellectuals and politicians advanced their con-
centration on physical prowess might produce a coarse, flicting theories. The conflict between BMKN and
callous and even cruel character, whereas exclusive Lekra was related to the issues of the debate but was
preoccupation with art might be conducive to weak- more a struggle for power between a "liberal" and a
ness; that a soldier, to be brave and intelligent, must Communist organization. Between these two, the LKN
harmoniously combine strength with delicacy, courage endeavored to steer the country's art into nationalist
with humility. channels. In Djakarta, the artists' own commitments, if
Returning to Djakarta's professional art community, they had any, were drowned in the Hoods of intellectual
it was not dominated in the fifties by a particular trend, and political speculations. In Jogja and Bandung, the
school, or philosophy. Djakarta was most strikingly the artists' commitments were reflected in their works.
market place with a constant coming and going of Their mutual antagonism was sharpest in the mid-
artists from the provinces. 23 In the capital, the artists fifties, but since then reportedly has mellowed. Stu-
were more split up than in Bandung or Jogja; they be- dents and teachers from both centers have studied
longed to different social strata, led very different lives, abroad and have returned with new approaches to
and congregated in small groups. While in Jogja and painting and teaching. Jogja may be gaining in techni-
Bandung even the youngest artist felt confident, the cal proficiency and sophistication; Bandung may be
metropolis, although buoyant for the famous, weighed acquiring a broader esthetic perspective and may be
heavily on its other artists. reassessing its relation to Indonesian culture. One thing
is certain: the debate will continue, although with a
Thus, Jogja, Bandung, and Djakarta as art centers new focus of controversy. The basic issues on the poli-
each in its own way participated in the great debate on tical level are seemingly resolved for the time being but
the future of Indonesian culture. Jogja, in the mid- on the esthetic level they are hardly susceptible to con-
fifties, stood for "Indonesianism" and an art devoted to scious or speedy resolution.
[ 254] MODERN ART

Notes
l. Achdiat K. Mihardja, ed., Polemik Kebudajaan (Dja- Culture] (Djakarta, 1951), pp. 14, 15, 20.
karta, 1950). All excerpts from the Polemik Kebudajaan have 16. Selosoemardjan, Social Changes in Jogjakarta (Ithaca,
been translated by the author. N.Y., 1962).
2. S. Takdir Alisjahbana, "Menudju Masjarakat dan Ke- 17. From The Flaming Earth, Poems from Indonesia, trans.
budajaan Barn Indonesia" ["Toward a New Indonesian Society from Indonesian by Ahmed Ali (Karachi, 1949).
and Culture"], ibid., pp. 13-21. 18. Translated from Dutch by the author and quoted with
3. Sanusi Pane, "Persatuan Indonesia" ["Indonesian M. N. Mulder's permission from an unpublished letter dated
Unity"], ibid., pp. 22-26. 1956.
4. S. Takdir Alisjahbana, "Djiwa dan Pendjelmahan; Isih 19. From a mimeographed statement accompanying appli-
dan Bentuk" ["Spirit and Creation; Content and Form"], ibid., cation for membership, Lembaga Kebudajaan Rakjat, Tjabang
pp. 136--145. Medan (Medan Branch, Lekra), Statement No. 003/ku/
5. Poerbatjaraka, "Sambungan Zaman" ["Ti :es to Come"], Lekra; Lampiran: = 1 =. Dated June 15, 1956. Translated
ibid., pp. 31-34. from Indonesian by the author.
6. Tjindarbumi, "Mentjari Verhouding" ["In Search of 20. Ibid.
Proportions"], ibid., pp. 56--58. 21. See A.H. Johns, "The Genesis of a Modem Literature,"
7. R. Sutomo, "Perbedaan Levensvisie" ["Difference in Vi- in Ruth T. McVey, ed., Indonesia (New Haven, 1963), pp.
sion of Life"], ibid., pp. 66--73. 410-437.
8. Adinegoro, "Kritik atas Kritik" ["A Criticism on a Criti- 22. Twenty-live of Basuki Abdullah's paintings are repro-
cism"], ibid., pp. 80-86. duced in color in Paintings from the Collection of Dr. Sukarno,
9. Ki Hadjar Dewantara, "Pembaharuan Adah" ["Cultural Vol. II.
Renewal"], ibid., pp. 115-117. 23. Even though there were a number of serious and skillful
10. M. Amir, "Menjambut Karangan S. Takdir Alisjah- painters outside the three main centers in Java, Jogjakarta,
bana" ["In Answer to the Article of S.T.A."], ibid., pp. 131- Bandung, and Djakarta, none of them had attained national
135. stature. The peripheral groups are significant nevertheless as
11. Amir, "Pertukaran dan Pertikaian Pikiran" ["Exchange they indicate the widespread interest in modem painting. In
of Ide£s and Controversy"], ibid., pp. 96-114. Java itself, there is a sizable group of artists in Surakarta (Solo)
12 See A. S. Dharta, writer and member of Lekra's ex- who in 1949 under the leadership of Dr. R. Moerdowo formed
ecutive committee in "Het Cultureel Congress te Solo" ["The the association, which is also an art school, known as Him-
Cultural Congress in Solo"], Cultureel Nieuws; Indonesie punan Budaja Surakarta or HBS (Cultural Association of
1955, (Amsterdam), no. 45, 17-18. Surakarta). In Sumatra, the most important organizations are
13. Pikiran Rakjat [The People's Thoughts] (Bandung). in Medan, the Angkatan Seni Rupa Indonesia or ASRI (Fine
November, 1960. Arts Group of Indonesia), active since 1945; and, in Bukit
14. Takdir Alisjahbana, Indonesia in the Modern World, Tinggi, the Seniman Muda Indonesia or SEMI (Young In-
trans. by Benedict Anderson (New Delhi, 1961), pp. 191-194. donesian Artists), created by Ali Akbar in 1948 and led in
15. Mr. M. Nasroen, Kebudajaan Indonesia [Indonesian the late fifties by Zetka.