SOUTHEAST ASIAN MASTERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
National Gallery Singapore exhibition showcases the works of 19th century artists Raden Saleh and Juan Luna
To any regular art enthusiast, the mention of 19th century artists brings to mind European (especially French) masters like Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. Asian artists rarely get any mention or recognition — and unless you’re Indonesian or Filipino, the names Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman (1811-1880) and Juan Luna y Novicio (1857-1899) would probably mean nothing to you.
Yet these are names that every Southeast Asian should come to know. National heroes in their respective countries, Raden Saleh and Juan Luna were two of the earliest and most significant Southeast Asian figures in the 19th century European art world. They made a name for themselves in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain, and their priceless artworks are now spread throughout the entire world and kept in private collections and leading institutions.
For the first time in history, the National Gallery Singapore has brought over 100 paintings, drawings and archival materials by both artists for their blockbuster exhibition “Between Worlds: Raden Saleh And Juan Luna” which runs until March 11.
Consisting of six rooms in total, three rooms are dedicated to each artist, with each room representing a particular period and a particular place that the artist lived, ultimately affecting their experiences and art.
“We thought that these two artists are so important they deserve an exhibition of their own,” said Dr Eugene Tan, director of the National Gallery Singapore.
“[We wanted to] uncover more about these two artists. It’s also about sharing these works with the audiences in Southeast Asia — many of whom are not familiar with these artists — and to juxtapose it with the kind of avantgarde of Europe at that time with the impressionists to give audiences a fuller sense of what was happening during the 19th century.”
Saleh, an Indonesian aristocrat of Arab-Javanese descent, is considered to be Indonesia’s pioneer modern Romantic artist. He painted for European royalty, and received the title of King’s Painter by the Dutch monarchy in 1852. Key works of Saleh on display include his signature Orientalist piece The Lion Hunt (1841) from the Collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art. The large painting depicts a spectacular scene of Arab men on horseback in a chaotic clash with two lions. Also intriguing is a series of serene landscape paintings of Java, displayed for the first time after being kept in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
“The biggest challenge for ‘Between Worlds’ is the fact that all of these works are from all over the world, many of which haven’t been shown before. And also making sure that they’re in good condition to show. For a lot of the Saleh works, they’re mostly in private collections so we negotiated with the individual collectors. That was most time-consuming. But they were all very supportive to lend the artworks because there hasn’t been an exhibition on this scale before,” Tan said.
The last exhibition displaying Raden Saleh’s work was in 2012 and 2013 in Jakarta and Germany, respectively. Juan Luna’s last show, however was in 1988 in the Philippines.
Luna, a proud and patriotic Filipino, rivalled his European counterparts. Going to Europe at 24, he won the silver medal at the 1881 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts for his piece La Muerte De Cleopatra (The Death Of Cleopatra), and then won gold medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts for his monumental piece Spoliarium. Key works of Luna on display include La Muerte De Cleopatra, which has never been shown to the public since the 1881 exposition. Restored by Spain’s Museo Nacional de Prado, the monumental neoclassical artwork is highly dramatic, depicting the scene where Cleopatra had taken her life — presumably from a snakebite hinted by a slithering tail at one of the pillars in her room.
Luna’s lesser known realism works are also on display, like Les Ignorés (The Unknown Heroes, 1890-91) depicting the sorrow and hardships of the working class during his stay in Paris.
“Even people familiar with Luna’s practice aren’t familiar with his realist period of work — his work in Paris,” explained Tan.
Being such under-researched artists, putting together the exhibition took four years hard work by the gallery’s curators — Russell Storer, Clarissa Chikiamco and Syed Muhammad Hafiz.
The installation is under the “Century Of Light” exhibition, which includes “Colors Of Impressionism”, a show that displays almost 70 pieces of work from leading impressionist painters like Monet, Renoir and Pissaro.
“We hope visitors get a sense of the art from the 19th century,” said Tan. “To get how artists from Southeast Asia were part of this whole community in Europe — the fact that they have their work and the fame they got in Europe. So we get a sense of what’s happening in Europe and how Southeast Asia was a part of this.”