SULTAN OF SELANGOR’S ART COLLECTION GOES ON DISPLAY AT GALERI PRIMA
Thirty-three paintings belonging to Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah will be open to public view for the first time at Galeri Prima, writes FAUZIAH ISMAIL
I make an effort to know all of them. If I like their work, I’ll buy them. SULTAN SHARAFUDDIN IDRIS SHAH
FOR the first time ever, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has given consent for 33 paintings in his expansive private art collection to be showcased to the public in an exhibition organised by Galeri Prima.
The exhibition, Terrains of the Heart, which will be held at the gallery’s premises at Jalan Riong, Kuala Lumpur, from today until Oct 20, will see the works of 14 local painters, among others, Datuk Ibrahim Hussein, Ahmad Nazri Abdullah, Datuk Azman Yusoff and Haron Mokhtar.
Ibrahim, who passed away in 2009, was a close friend of the sultan, while Ahmad Nazri and Azman are both Selangor’s royal painters. Haron is a visual artist whose works in vibrant colours captured the sultan’s eye.
“I had known Ib since I was 15 years old,” Sultan Sharafuddin said, referring to his late friend by his pet name.
“We first met in London when I was a student. When I returned home, we continued our friendship. We met each other almost every week. I was in Hong Kong when he passed away. He had left me a voice message, telling me that he was going to the hospital because he had difficulty breathing and then I found out that he died later in the night,” he said, recalling that they would both leave each other voice messages as they did not know how to text using the phone.
Besides Ibrahim, Sultan Sharafuddin makes it a point to know the other painters personally, to the extent of knowing some of their habits. Citing examples, he said Ahmad Nazri dates his paintings according to the Islamic calendar, while Datuk Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir prefers to leave her work unsigned.
“I make an effort to know all of them. If I like their work, I’ll buy them,” he said.
He has lost count of the number of paintings he has in his collection, which comprises mainly works by local painters and those from Asean.
THE ROYAL COLLECTION
Sultan Sharafuddin started collecting art when he was 24 years old, but it was from 1990 onwards that he started buying paintings aggressively.
The first piece he bought was by none other than his good friend Ibrahim.
“It was based on a foreign ballet performance that I attended. It was Ib’s first print,” he said.
Sultan Sharafuddin has 24 of Ibrahim’s paintings and more of the painter’s unique works on other medium than canvas. “He drew on anything that I showed him,” he said. These include neckties, plates, motorcycle helmets, hand fans, stones and the sultan’s cigar boxes.
A matte black helmet, with Ibrahim’s creative work on it as a birthday gift for the sultan in 2000, will be an item for display during the exhibition.
The sultan’s late father, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, also collected Ibrahim’s works, one of which is called Kimono. It will also be displayed during the exhibition.
Another painting by Ibrahim called Father and Son, which will be featured on the cover of the exhibition’s catalogue, is the sultan’s gift to his son, Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah, for his 18th birthday in 2008.
“He (Tengku Amir) agreed to lend this piece for the exhibition. I was at Ib’s house and saw him painting this. I told him it would be appropriate for my son’s birthday. I asked the price and bought it.”
Tengku Amir also has three of Ibrahim’s works.
Sultan Sharafuddin also has in his collection three paintings on wayang kulit by Azman (oil on canvas), Abdul Fatah Ngah (acrylic on canvas) and Raja Azhar Idris (oil on canvas). He would have picked up a fourth if the one done in batik was not pulled out of an auction. The particular piece is now hanging at the Malaysia Airlines’ Golden Lounge at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. “I would have loved to add that to my collection,” he said.
But one rare item at the exhibition would probably be Rewang, a 165 cm x 165 cm drawing by car-
toonist Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid, or more popularly known as Lat. Sultan Sharafuddin met Lat after seeing the cartoonist’s drawing of a circumcision ceremony in a magazine when he was in Hong Kong.
“I commissioned him to draw a piece on a kenduri (feast) for the dining room. Lat drew a huge one ofa kenduri at his village mosque. I didn’t expect it to be that huge. He told me that it is to be his first and last huge drawing.”
Like Lat’s drawing, some of the paintings in Sultan Sharafuddin’s collection were commissioned by the sultan himself. “I give them the subject matter and they imagine it themselves.”
While he said that he is not very particular about the paintings he buys or commissions, he doesn’t quite like abstract.
SENTIMENTAL REASON
The S.Y. Jugra is probably among the paintings which has the most sentimental value to the sultan.
Jugra was the yacht that Sultan Sharafuddin took to the sea to circumnavigate the world in 1995. The painting was done by Azman based on a photograph that a crew member took of the sultan on the Jugra while they were in Corsica.
“There were four of us. I told one of the crew members to go out on the rubber boat to take the photograph of the Jugra against the backdrop of the sunset against the limestone. I liked the colours.
“That was the best time of my life. It taught me a lot about patience and teamwork. I made a lot of friends and visited many beautiful places,” he said of the 22-month sea voyage.
He has since sold the boat upon instruction of his late father and no longer goes sailing.
Another piece of work close to the sultan’s heart is a montage by Anisa Abdullah of his only grandchild, Layla, who lives in London. It is based on a photograph that the sultan took of her six years ago when she was only a year old.
And, it was for this sentimental reason that Sultan Sharafuddin has not allowed for his collection to be shown at any private art galleries.
“I fear it will go missing. No amount of money can replace it if it is lost.”
Furthermore, he does not look at these paintings as an investment, although the pieces in his collection have increased in value over the years. “No, I don’t see it as such. I collect them because I like the work these local painters have done. I don’t buy art for investment but to support my friends. I didn’t expect their work to fetch such a high price now.”
A painting by Ibrahim bought at RM85,000 some 10 years ago has tripled in value today.
ROYAL PAINTERS
Royal painters or court painters are artisans who paint for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis, where the painter is not supposed to undertake other work.
Selangor has two, namely Ahmad Nazri and Azman. “Many have applied to be royal painters but, at any one time, there is one or two at the most,” Sultan Sharafuddin said.
Selangor’s first royal painter was Datuk Hoessein Enas, who was named father of Malaysian portrait painting. Hoessein died in 1995.
Not any painter can be given such royal patronage. “He must be a portrait painter. His work must be detailed and exact.”
Sultan Sharafuddin describes Ahmad Nazri as an excellent portrait painter. “He is an excellent portrait painter. He improves with every portrait he does. Unfortunately, he is going blind,” he said.
Ahmad Nazri’s last painting of Sultan Sharafuddin is a beautiful portrait of the sultan wearing a crown.
Ahmad Nazri was also commissioned by the government to paint all the portraits of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Sultan Sharafuddin first discovered Azman through his paintings of the cover of novels published by Creative Enterprise Sdn Bhd, of which the painter was a director. Like Ahmad Nazri, Azman is also a detailed portrait painter.
Among his paintings is the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque in Shah Alam, which the sultan commissioned, and the mimbar of Masjid Sultan Sulaiman, Bandar in Kuala Langat.
Azman was also commissioned by the sultan to paint the kiswah
Kaabah (cloth that covers the Kaabah) based on a photograph taken by Sultan Sharafuddin in Mecca.
LOCAL ART SCENE
An aesthete of the art, Sultan Sharafuddin makes it a point to visit private art galleries and auctions when he is overseas.
One gallery that impressed him most is the Singapore Art Gallery, which according to him, “has done it right” .
“Works of some of our painters are being displayed there.”
Here, the sultan thinks that the National Art Gallery can be managed better. “We need the people who know about the art to run the gallery,” he said.
Sultan Sharafuddin said while he sees value in the work done by the local painters, some of them unfortunately have priced their works ridiculously high. “They must know what they are worth.”
He also buys the paintings directly from the source instead of going through the art galleries. “I first saw Haron’s work at the coffee house at Concorde Hotel before I went sailing around the world. I bought his piece through an art gallery and it was exorbitantly priced. I got in touch with the painter himself and bought his work off him. This way, he makes the money and not the third party.”
He is also keen for his collection to be given a permanent home such as its own building, where the works can then be displayed to the public.
“I told the state government that if it can give a building for the Selangor Art Gallery, I can loan these paintings for the public to see. My late father left me five palaces and these paintings are hung on the walls there besides at the private homes.”