INDONESIA: INDONESIAN ORGANISERS ARE GOING AHEAD WITH AN AUCTION OF WORKS ATTRIBUTED TO SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST KNOWN PAINTERS

Record ID: 643542

  • Title: INDONESIA: INDONESIAN ORGANISERS ARE GOING AHEAD WITH AN AUCTION OF WORKS ATTRIBUTED TO SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST KNOWN PAINTERS
  • Date: 23rd November 2000
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (NOVEMBER 23, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN OF EXHIBITION 0.12 2. SV PEOPLE LOOKING AT PAINTINGS 0.18 3. SLV OF PAINTING BY VINCENT VAN GOGH ON DISPLAY 0.23 4. CU OF PAINTING TITLED "CORN FARMERS" 0.27 5. CU CLOSEUP OF TAG EXPLAINING ORIGIN OF PAINTING 0.37 6. CU SUBJECTS OF PAINTING 0.43 7. CU OF ERODED SIGNATURE 0.47 8. MCU TWO MEN LOOKING PAINTING 0.53 9. CU OF MAN EXAMINING PAINTING 0.58 10. CU ANOTHER VAN GOGH PAINTING TITLED "MUSE" (2 SHOTS) 1.16 11. CU OF SIGNATURE "VINCENT" 1.20 12. MCU (English) SULEBAR M. SOEKARMAN, MEMBER OF EXPERT TEAM, SAYING: "The question must be (directed) back to the real collector. Don't buy paintings that you don't feel fit in your own heart. Because if you buy a name, then you can get a fake. If you really love the painting, then you will know if it is the real van Gogh. So please take care, come slowly and if you have a feeling this is the real Van Gogh, then buy it" 2.01 13. SLV OF EXHIBITION 2.07 14. SV MORE PAINTINGS ON DISPLAY 2.12 15. MCU VISITORS DISCUSSING ABOUT PAINTING 2.17 16. MCU (English) SOEKARMAN SAYING: "Yes, in my opinion as a painter I don't think (of) these (paintings) as Van Goh (or) Picasso, but these (as) real good works. It's just a name" 2.40 17. SV MORE OF PAINTINGS 2.47 18. PAN OF PAINTING, A PRIVATE COLLECTION ON DISPLAY, BY PABLO PICASSO 2.56 19. CU OF TAG (2 SHOTS) 3.05 20. MCU (English) ADELIA RANGKUTI, EVENT ORGANISER, SAYING: "In the catalog, we have already said that if you do not trust that the painting is original, the money that you already paid will be given back to the (buyers)" 3.25 21. SLV MORE OF PAINTINGS 3.31 22. SV/CU PAINTING BY ARIE SMIT TITLED "2 DANCERS" (2 SHOTS) 3.39 23. CU OF SIGNATURE 3.43 24. SV/LAS MORE OF VISITORS LOOKING AT PAINTINGS (2 SHOTS) 3.54 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 8th December 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVA57GX07KDGENC479LFT9DHPMAH
  • Story Text: Undeterred by cries of 'fake!', Indonesian organisers
    are going ahead with an auction of works attributed to some of
    the world's best known painters, stumbled across in remote
    corners of the tropical archipelago.



    Friday's (November 24) auction by Batavia -- which
    describes itself as "the real professional auctioneers" -- has
    created a stir in Indonesia's art community.

    Among a catalogue of 50 paintings are those believed to be
    Van Gogh, Renoir, Picasso and Chagall.

    Organisers of the event, titled "The Old Paintings of
    Pre-World War II", say the paintings were acquired from a
    20-year hunting effort.

    They said the paintings were left by former colonial
    rulers, or best yet, the artists themselves -- namely Vincent
    Van Gogh, Picasso and Marc Chagall -- who came to the Indies
    as the islands were called when under Dutch rule.

    Potential buyers worried about authenticity are asked to
    trust their hearts, which is probably just as well given the
    lack of evidence they are genuine and something the catalogue
    states very clearly it will not promise.

    "The question goes back to the real collector. Don't buy
    paintings that you don't feel fit in your own heart. Because
    if you buy a name, then you can get a fake. If you really love
    the painting, then you will know if it is the real van Gogh.

    "So please take care, come slowly and if you have a feeling
    this is the real Van Gogh, then buy it," said head of team
    experts, Sulebar Soekarman.

    Sulebar, a painter himself, said that it is a question of
    emotion, not fame.

    "Yes, in my opinion as a painter I don't think of these
    (paintings) as Van Gogh's (or) Picasso's, but (as) real good
    works. It's just a name," Sulebar said.

    The little evidence there is is not encouraging.

    Brief laboratory notes on a brown and ochre Van Gogh of
    two corn field workers says: "The observation on this oil
    painting with the canvas as its media indicates an old
    painting."
    It is also missing the tell-tale signature "Vincent"
    The suggested price for the work, discovered in Riau
    province which is better known for its oil rigs than oil
    paintings, is $2.5-4.0 million.

    A Picasso with a price tag of $200,000-300,000 was found
    in a flea market.

    Art critics, however, said that there is very little
    change of those paintings to be found in a flea market or
    remote towns across the country.

    They also pointed out a blunder of a painting attributed
    to Arie Smit, a Dutch-born artist, who moved to Bali in 1956.

    The painting is of two Balinese dancers, even though Smit
    never used women as his subjects.

    But the organisers of the exhibition and auction in
    Jakarta have promised a full refund if a purchase turns out to
    be fake.

    "In the catalog, we have already said that if you do not
    trust that the painting is original, we will give back the
    money that you already paid," said Adelia Rangkuti, one of the
    organisers of the sale which will be held in one of Jakarta's
    flashiest hotels.

    Organisers only manage to give a guarantee of old age of
    the paintings, not their authenticity.

    Despite calls to halt the event, the auction is still
    scheduled to take place on Friday.


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