Prinz) Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia (Java Sold at Auction Prices
Figure painter, Painter, Portrait painter, Landscape painter, Lithographer, Water colorist, b. 1811 - d. 1880
Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman (Raden Saleh Syarif Bustaman; 1807 – 23 April 1880) was a pioneering Indonesian Romantic painter of Arab-Javanese ethnicity. He was considered to be the first "modern" artist from Indonesia (then Dutch East Indies), and his paintings corresponded with nineteenth-century romanticism which was popular in Europe at the time. He also expressed his cultural roots and inventiveness in his work.
SALEH BEN JAGGIA, RADEN 1811 Samarang (Java) - 1880 Buitenzorg Title: Landscape with a View of the Merapi Volcano on Java. Date: Ca. 1867. Technique: Oil on canvas. Measurement: 30 x 43,5cm. Frame: Framed. Certificate: Werner Kraus, Passau, 17/07/2024, copy available. Material analysis: Art in Lab, Paris, 12/06/2024, copy available. The painting was subjected to the following analyses in May-June 2024 Examination with ultraviolet light, digital microscope, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (SFX), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). These analyses show that the pigments match the biographical data of Raden Saleh (1811-1880) and indicate that the work was created in the years 1850-1860. Provenance: Private ownership, France; Art market, London (as 'Dutch School'); Art market, Belgium (as 'Calame Umkreis'). Mount Merapi, literally meaning fire mountain, is one of the most active volcanoes on the island of Java. Its Javanese name is derived from Meru, the exemplary centre of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, and api, which means fire. Its name alone makes it the imaginary centre of the world, the pivot and nail in the universe. For millions of years, the periodic eruptions of the volcano have supplied the soil in its immediate vicinity and in neighbouring areas with abundant mineral nutrients. At the same time, its gentle slope, which extends to the southern sea, enabled the establishment of complex and extensive irrigation systems, which formed the basis for the successful cultivation of wet rice. The resulting agricultural wealth was in turn the basis for the establishment of local states and the adoption of more complex Indian-style administrative and religious structures. No economic, political and cultural developments would have been possible without the central role of the Merapi volcano. It is the main player in this system, which is emphasised by its central position in Javanese state theory and mythology to this day. Merapi is not just one of many mountains of fire on the island: it is the central mountain. Men as diverse as the brilliant geologist Wilhelm Junghuhn and the painter Raden Saleh understood this central importance of Merapi in Javanese culture. Junghuhn, who climbed and described all 43 volcanoes in Java, began with Merapi in 1838, and Raden Saleh painted no other mountain in Java with the same attention and precision as Merapi. The Merapi volcano can be found as a motif in at least 12 paintings by Raden Saleh. In most of these paintings, the mountain is the central theme; one could almost speak of 'portraits' of Merapi. Unlike the mountains around Bogor, such as Gunung Salak, Gunung Gedeh and Gunung Pangerango, which often appear as backgrounds in his West Javanese landscape paintings, Raden Saleh (mostly) depicts Merapi as a solitaire. This indicates that he was aware of the mystical significance, the sublimity, of the mountain and expressed this in his painting. In 1865, Raden Saleh decided to spend some time in Central Java. However, travelling from Batavia to the principalities (Central Java) was not easy. Permission from the authorities was needed, i.e. a passport, and this was only available if you could provide convincing reasons for the journey. Saleh had already applied for such a trip to Central Java in 1855, ten years earlier, to make studies for his painting 'Arrest of Diponegoro'. However, the government was not convinced of the necessity of this trip and rejected the request. Ten years later, he tried again to obtain a travel permit and this time he was less naive in his dealings with the administration. Saleh skilfully offered his services to the Bataviaasche Genootschap van Wetenschappen en Kunsten as a procurer of Javanese manuscripts. The board of the Genootschap therefore submitted a travel application with free use of post horses for Raden Saleh, which was approved by the government in May 1865. This cleared all obstacles out of the way and Raden Saleh was soon on his way. He arrived in Yogyakarta in August 1865. Between October and December 1865, the Merapi volcano was in a very active phase. Endless clouds of smoke and ash rose into the sky and millions of cubic metres of lava flowed over the crater rim. Raden Saleh climbed the smoking and rumbling mountain with a group of Dutchmen and local dignitaries and captured the magnificent natural spectacle on two canvases - Merapi erupting by day and Merapi erupting by night. He would later produce three replicas of this highly successful pair. Probably the most conspicuous sign of age and change in the image layer of paintings is craquelure. Also, the stretcher frame of the painting appears to be the original one. It bears an old label, the inscription of which can unfortunately no longer be deciphered. At the top left, we see either a seal bearing the name A. Calame, which refers to the Swiss landscape painter Alexander Calame (1810-1864) or his son Arthur Calame (1843-1919). However, this does not mean that either of them could be the author. The work of the two Calame's is of a completely different nature and neither of them ever travelled to Java or painted subjects that are in any way like the Merapi painting. The seal also does not show the Calame's' signature, and we can safely assume that the authorship of the painting is not connected to either Alexander or Arthur Calame. Nevertheless, the painting was attributed to the Calame circle at an earlier auction in Belgium, while a later auction at Christie's in London located the painting as 'Dutch School'. If we compare the stretcher frame of the painting, which is original, with that of another Raden Saleh painting from the same period, the similarities in the stretcher technique are obvious. Raden Saleh did not make his stretcher frames himself but commissioned local craftsmen to whom he had explained the technique. The wood has not yet been examined, but visual inspection seems to confirm that it is 19th century tropical wood. However, to achieve greater certainty in the attribution of the painting, a recognized Parisian laboratory was commissioned to carry out a comprehensive pigment analysis of the painting. This involved checking whether the pigments used in the painting had already been invented around the middle of the 19th century and were available to artists. This is because the development of pigments was very dynamic, especially in the 19th century, and it is often possible to determine down to the year when which pigments came onto the market and could be used by artists. The results of the 20-page investigation are summarized in the report (which is available for inspection). The decisive sentence of the expert report reads: 'No pigments invented in the second half of the 19th century were identified in the original paint layer'. All the criteria analysed support the expert's opinion and the authorship of Raden Saleh. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: Arrangement after the auction. Explanations to the Catalogue Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia Asia Orientalism Romanticism 19th C. Paintings Framed Landscape Painting Exotic
SALEH BEN JAGGIA, RADEN 1811 Samarang (Java) - 1880 Buitenzorg Title: Battle between Arab Horsemen and a Lion. Date: 1842. Technique: Oil on canvas. Measurement: 63.5 x 98cm. Notation: Remains of the original signature lower right: "Raden Saleh 184(...)". Frame: Framed. Verso: On the stretcher with a later, incorrect attribution to Verestchagen (1842-1904). Certificate: Werner Kraus, Passau, 2023. Provenance: Private ownership, France. A wide landscape with palm trees, a deep blue sky in the first warm glow of evening-and below it a wild battle of animals and people intertwined with challenging perspective and almost unparalleled dramatic movement. Life and survival, death and mortal combat are the themes of this extraordinary 1842 painting, in which the contemporary viewer can experience strangeness, wildness and boldness. Like many other artists of this time of emerging mechanization, Raden Saleh was fascinated by the contrast between the wild and turbulent nature and the anthropized world. In his paintings he shows nothing but the superiority of culture in the struggle against the forces of nature: Be it the large marine paintings with which he established himself in the tradition of his Dutch masters, or the exotic-looking hunting scenes that he painted in Dresden from 1840 onwards. His savage world stood in stark contrast to the sheltered bourgeois system of the 19th century, which tended to create a cosy atmosphere and appealed to the idealised late-romantic vision of the Oriental world. In this way, he attracted even more attention in European society than he had already received as a Javanese prince. In 1829, at the age of 18, Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia took on the great challenge of travelling to Holland on a scholarship. He wanted to complete his training as a painter, but also to study the homeland of the colonial rulers. Saleh was an absolute exception in the art world of the 19th century. He stayed in Europe, mainly in the Netherlands and Germany, for over 22 years. His technical skill and flamboyant personality quickly made him a star in a society fascinated by exoticism. The Dresden years, during which our painting was made, were extremely productive and some of his paintings are still privately owned in Germany to the present day. The esteem Saleh enjoyed among his contemporaries is also reflected in the fact that the European aristocracy, including the British royal family, coveted and sought out his paintings. Some of his works can still be found in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, among other places. In his home country Saleh, who returned to Java in 1851, is considered the founder of modern Indonesian art. Raden Saleh thus built a cultural bridge between two then physically and conceptually distant worlds. The present work, painted in 1842 at the height of his career, brings together the most diverse aspects of Raden Saleh's art: his great model Horace Vernet and his lion hunt painted in 1836, recognisable here, as well as the lion 'Nero', which he saw and portrayed several times in The Hague in 1837. It is also possible here to recognise his way of working in search of the right expression, which is revealed in the discrepancy between the underlying drawing and the final stroke. The infra-red reflectography indicates preliminary drawings in chalk with varying perspectives and movements or small changes in detail. Raden Saleh literally plays with figures and animals in his work process until he finds his characteristic and powerful composition with fast movements, wide-open eyes and flowing manes. It is noteworthy that the signature was removed from the painting. Werner Kraus, the leading expert on this artist, explains in his report that the attempt to remove the signature by the previous owners was influenced by the varied reception of Raden Saleh's work in Europe. While it was the exotic star of its time, it fell into oblivion in the decades of Impressionism and was ignored: a false attribution on the verso of the frame was probably intended to increase its economic value. Today, the remains of the original signature and date are still slightly recognisable with a magnifying glass. They are an important confirmation of this masterly painting, in which Kraus sees one of his major works: "The painting 'Battle between Arab Knights and a Lion', 1842, oil on canvas, 67.3 x 98 cm, is an original work by the Javanese artist Raden Saleh. It was painted in Dresden and must be considered a masterpiece by the artist'. VAN HAM weaves together with Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia its history as an auction house and a sequence of successful sales: in 2011, we managed to sell Saleh's monumental work 'In letzter Not', also dating from 1842 and depicting an Arabian knight on his grey horse fighting a lion, for around EUR 2 million - for many years the highest auction price for a 19th century painting worldwide. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: Arrangement after auction. Explanations to the Catalogue Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia Asia Orientalism Romanticism 19th C. Paintings Framed Exotic Painting Animals
zugeschrieben. Kosaken im winterlichen Gefecht. Öl auf Papier, montiert auf einen Sammlerkarton. 16,9 x 28,6 cm. Verso auf dem Sammlerkarton handschriftl. alt bezeichnet "Raden Saleh". Der von der Insel Java stammende Raden Saleh Syrif Bustaman kam 1830 auf Bestreben der niederländischen Kolonialbehörden nach Den Haag, um an der dortigen Kunstakademie Malerei zu studieren. In Holland fühlte sich Saleh von den Kolonialherren jedoch eingeengt und zog daher 1839 nach Dresden. Während seiner Aufenthalte an der Elbe (1839-1844 sowie 1847/48 und 1848/49) entstanden schließlich Salehs künstlerische Hauptwerke: seine exotischen Landschaften, mit orientalischen Kriegern, galoppierenden Pferden und wilden Tieren wie Tigern, Löwen oder Büffeln. In Deutschland begegnete man Saleh mit dem „romantischen-idealisierten Interesse für das Ferne, das Orientalische. Der Orient war der romantisch definierte Raum des zeitlos Edlen“ und eben mit diesem Stil der wilden, exotischen Motive traf Saleh den Nerv der behüteten bürgerlichen, biedermeierlichen Welt (op. cit. S. 38). In Maxen, unweit von Dresden gelegen, findet sich heute noch das Blaue Häusle, ein Pavillon im indonesischen Stil, den Saleh mit aufgebaut hat und der an seinen Aufenthalt bei der Familie Serre erinnert, die zu seinen größten Förderern gezählt werden kann. Saleh verkehrte in den höchsten Kreisen des europäischen Hochadels und eine enge Freundschaft verband ihn mit Herzog Ernst II. von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. Saleh wird zum „javanischen Prinzen“ stilisiert und kehrt als hoch angesehener Künstler 1851 in seine Heimat zurück, begibt sich jedoch 1876 erneut auf eine beschwerliche Europareise, um seine alten Bekannten zu besuchen. Schließlich verstirbt er vier Jahre später in Indonesien. Bei vorliegendem Bild handelt es sich nach Meinung von Dr. Werner Kraus „höchst wahrscheinlich“ um ein Werk Raden Salehs. Auch in diesem Gemälde findet sich die für Saleh typische dynamisch bewegte Tierdarstellung, darüber hinaus hat auch der kleine Baum oder Busch im rechten Vordergrund eine große Ähnlichkeit mit einem Baum in einem anderen Winterbild Salehs. Bekannt ist, dass Saleh gerade bei den Bäumen oft eine Wiederverwertung anstrebte. Auch die Behandlung des Schnees ist vergleichbar mit anderen Werken. In seiner Zeit in Dresden, im Jahre 1843 malte Saleh ein großformatiges Ölbild mit dem Titel „Kampf zwischen Kosaken und Tscherkessen“. Jedoch ist der Aufbewahrungsort des Bildes nicht bekannt. Dass Saleh hier Kosaken zu Pferde darstellt, ist für die Zeit nicht weiter ungewöhnlich, waren die Kosaken der russischen Truppen, die im Winter 1813 gegen Napoleon kämpften, der Bevölkerung doch in bleibender Erinnerung geblieben. Im Jahre 1844 erschien zudem von Heinrich Aster die Publikation „Schilderung der Kriegsereignisse in und vor Dresden, vom 7. März bis 28. August 1813. Nebst zwei großen Schlachtplanen“. Wir danken Dr. Werner Kraus für wertvolle Hinweise und seine Expertise (Februar 2021). - Literatur: Vgl. Werner Kraus, Irina Vogelsang: Raden Saleh: Der Beginn der modernen indonesischen Malerei. Jakarta: Goethe-Institut Indonesien. 2013. - Wir bitten darum, Zustandsberichte zu den Losen zu erfragen, da der Erhaltungszustand nur in Ausnahmefällen im Katalog angegeben ist. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalogue.
RADEN SJARIEF BASTAMAN SALEH (Indonesia/Europe, 1811-1880) oil on panel, portrait of a Dutchman wearing black and having a beard and mustache with one hand on a book and the other in his coat. The man wears the Netherlands Hasselt Cross war medal from the war against the secessionist kingdom of Belgium in 1830-1831, the green and orange ribbon indicates that he was a volunteer. Signed "R. Saleh" lower right, circa 1832 based on past auction records, dated "18.." but the last two numbers have been inpainted. Image measures 15.5" x 12.25". In a gilt wood frame; 19.5" x 15.5" overall. Raden Saleh moved from Java to Europe in 1829. Saleh studied art while in Europe and was commissioned by many courts to paint portraits. Saleh returned to Java in 1851 where he continued to paint. Provenance: offered at J.M. Heberle, Cologne, in 1907 with published black and white illustration, then again offered in 1907 in Berlin at Rudolph Lepke's Kunst Auctions-Haus. In 1921, the painting was again offered in Berlin at Rudolph Lepke's Kunst Auctions-Haus. Image published and described by Marie-Odette Scalliet in “Raden Saleh et les Hollandais: artiste protégé ou otage politique?ˮ Archipel 69 (2005): pp. 194, 197, ill. 11.
Attributed to: Raden Salèh Sarief Bustaman INDONESIAN (1811–1880) Oil on Board, "Shipwreck". Signed lower right. Measures 18-1/2" H, 25" W; frame measures 25" H, 31-1/2" W. Condition: Good condition. Estimate: $800.00 - $1200.00 Domestic Shipping: Third party.
RADEN SALEH SJARIF BOESTAMAN (INDONESIA, 1807-1880) View of Dieng Plateau signed and dated 'R Saleh 1872' (lower left); inscribed ‘Plateau Dieng’ (on the reverse) oil on canvas 46 x 75.5 cm. (18 1/8 x 29 3/4 in.) Painted in 1872
SALEH BEN JAGGIA, RADEN 1811 Samarang (Java) - 1880 Buitenzorg Battle between a Young Javenese Rhinoceros and Two Tigers. Oil auf canvas. 48 x 60 cm. Signed, and dated lower right: Raden Saleh ft. 1840. Framed. Provenance: Private Collection, Berlin. Expertise: Dr Werner Kraus, Centre for Southeast Asian Art, Passau (Germany) "The Javanese rhinoceros, called Badak in the local vernacular, is a close relative of the Indian rhinoceros, of which there is early visual evidence in the world of European paintings. I am referring to Albrecht Dürer's Rhinoceros from 1515, which is one of the best known graphic works in art history. Dürer had never personally seen a rhinoceros but worked on the basis of a description he had received from Lisbon. Despite anatomical errors, his rhino became the ultimate rhinoceros and was referred to in many works of European, but also Japanese and South American art history. Since the picture was moreover used in contemporary natural history textbooks, Dürer's beast became an icon not only in art but also in science. Only when yet another Indian rhinoceros arrived which was presented to the public as Clara throughout Europe from 1741 on, did Dürer's rhinoceros lose its exemplary status. The oldest watercolour painted in Java according to European rules also shows a rhinoceros. It decorates the travelogue of Caspar Schmalkalden from Thuringia, who lived in East India between December 1646 and December 1651. He wrote about the drawing of the rhinoceros: "This rhino was drawn by a Chinese painter from a live one that was in Batavia." Yet even a superficial look at the watercolour tells us that Dürer's woodcut must have served as a model as well, even though the Chinese artist did not repeat Dürer's mistakes. (Regrettably, I have to dispense with the thrilling story of how a Chinese man in Batavia became acquainted with Dürer.) During the past 200 years, representations of rhinoceroses became rare in European art history, and I am not aware of any at all in Southeast Asia. Raden Saleh's rhinoceros Previously research was ignorant of the fact that Raden Saleh had painted a battle between two tigers and a rhinoceros. The picture, which was produced in Dresden in 1840, was not presented at any contemporary or later exhibition, and therefore has been hidden from the public eye to this day. Yet this is not surprising, as we know that Raden Saleh was a very industrious painter who sold many of his pictures to collectors straight from his studio. One source for the work he painted in Dresden is the letters he wrote in malay language to his mentor Jean Chretien Baud, Minister of Colonial Affairs in The Hague. They do not mention the rhinoceros, either. We know that Saleh only listed a fraction of his production in this correspondence, because he did not want to disabuse the Dutch Government of the notion that he was a poor painter who continued to depend on a royal stipend. All of this may explain why we have never seen any mention of this impressive painting in any document. At the centre of the painting there is a Javanese rhinoceros that is being attacked by two tigers. While one tiger clings to the back of the animal with the armour-like skin, the other one is already being pushed to the ground by the rhino, which weighs well more than a tonne. We cannot tell how the fight will end. Yet this should not greatly concern us, as tiger and rhinoceros coexisted perfectly with each other in Java and did not fight each other. Considering this fact, Saleh's composition is an invention, a concession to the Oriental yearnings of the Dresden of the Biedermeier period. The way the details of the tiger have been wrought is typical of Raden Saleh. Every line is perfect. Based on my knowledge of Raden Saleh's complete oeuvre, this was his first painting of a tiger. He had seen these animals not only in his native country of Java (where battles between captured tigers and buffalo were arranged regularly) but also a few years previously in the Netherlands, in the menagerie of the Frenchman Henri Martin. During Martin's stay in The Hague, Saleh made numerous sketches of his lions and tigers, for which he compensated Martin with a nice portrait. The menagerie's Bengal tiger, which we must assume to have served as the model for the two tigers in this picture, had the name of Atyr. Incidentally, it is likely that Delacroix used the same tiger, Atyr, as the model for his famous painting Jeune tigre jouant avec sa mere, because Delacroix, too, had visited Henri Martin's menagerie a few years before. The way the two tigers are positioned in the composition of the painting is strongly reminiscent of the two lions (lion and lioness) in the painting Lion hunt, which was also produced in Dresden in 1840 (auctioned off in 2005 by Van Ham). The ravine in which the drama is set is overgrown with the typical flora of Java's primal forest, and the topography also emulates Javanese reality. What is unusual is the discrepancy in the way the details are wrought. Whereas the central group of animals is done in the typical 19th century fijnschilder style, the background remains sketchy, with few details. This gives the painting the nice effect of inevitably directing the eye of the beholder to the fight at the centre. It is a device that is not all that atypical of Raden Saleh. We notice a quite similar composition (sketchy background, central action executed in fijnschilder style) in Battle between tiger and buffalo, oil on canvas, 32 x 42 cm, signed and dated "Raden Saleh f 1847". The beautiful signature of the rhino picture was engraved in the soft oil paint with the stem of the brush. This was confirmed by the restorers of Gruppe Köln, who recently examined the signature under the microscope. This means that signature and date are in fact original parts of the painting. The picture Battle between a Javanese rhinoceros and two tigers is a wonderful new discovery that adds an important painting to Raden Saleh's oeuvre. Theme, historical circumstances, signature and date leave no doubt as to its authenticity."
Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh (1811-1880) British marine vessel in heavy weather signed and dated 'Raden Saleh 1840' (lower right) oil on canvas 34.5 x 42.5 cm. Painted in 1840.
Saleh, Raden Sjarief B. (1814-1880) (after). "The Attack of the Lion. Die Anfall des Löwen". Handcol. engraving by A.H. PAYNE, 36,2x42,4 cm., w. engr. caption and address below image, London/ Leipsic, Brain & Payne, ±1850. - Tiny closed hole in the waterfall; margins sl. yellowed. = Spectacular print after Raden Saleh's most famous painting, "The last resort", which was sold in 2011 in Germany for nearly 2 million euro. On the artist see Bastin/ Brommer p.330f. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON FRONTCOVER.
Bubb > Kuyper: Auctioneers of Books, Fine Arts & Manuscripts
IN THE MANNER OF RADEN SARIEF BASTAMAN SALEH 1807-1880 (PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN) 1856 oil on canvas signed and dated 'Radin / Saleh / 1856' lower left 24 X 20.5CM
Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh (1811-1880) British marine vessel in heavy weather signed and dated 'Raden Saleh 1840' (lower right) oil on canvas 34.5 x 42.5 cm.
Saleh Ben Jaggia, Raden 1811 Samarang (Java) - 1880 Buitenzorg Arab with his Horse. Signed lower right: Raden Saleh f. Oil on wood. 18 x 23cm. Framed. Provenance: Private collection, northern Germany. Expertise: Dr. Werner Kraus, Passau, March. (...) "On Raden Saleh's arrival in 1839 in Dresden, he was soon made into the 'Javanese prince' by the public - a role he took on gladly and played convincingly. The consequence of this identity was the public expectation to paint 'oriental' paintings. Although this was contradictory to his existing artistic production, he recognised the economic potential of such a construction and reacted accordingly.(...) Saleh's 'oriental' Dresden paintings can be categorised into three columns: 1. hunting- and battle scenes in an arabian setting, 2. arabian genre scenes, 3. hunting pictures from his home country Java. The painting of the mourning arab and his horse must be seen in the category 'arabian genre'. The first 'arabianised' painting of Saleh was the Lion Hunt of 1840 which was on sale at Van Ham in 2005. More followed and became bestsellers in the repertoire of the painter. The 'Javanese hunting pictures' had similar success and are his most sought-after works today. The situation, however, is a bit different with the 'arabian genre scenes'. They were painted in small, private formats and were not meant for the public. They appear neither in contemporary sources, nor in exhibition catalogues of the time. Yet they are not to be understood as sketches or studies. Often these tiny cabinet pieces are the most beautiful documents of the painter's technical skills. These qualities can also be seen in our painting, for instance in the grass and plants of the foreground, or the bearded head of the Arab: everything is painted with tiny brushes strokes and the utmost sensibility. Exquisite as well is the expression of silent meditative mourning in the face and posture of the man. Here someone is sitting and is aghast about the death of a long-standing friend, immersed in the feeling of loss. As yet there is no sign of concern about his further travel through the inhospitable desert. His distress is the death of his friend, not his own survival, a feeling seldom to be found in the european oriental painting. The oriental Raden Saleh displays a different view to the constructed oriental in the desert. We see an emotional competent individual mourning a great loss, an oriental whose feeling is not that of a stranger.(...) Concluding one might say: The picture of the mourning Arab in front of his dead horse is a work by Raden Saleh. The signature is original and typical. With geat certainty one may presume that it was painted in 1843 in Dresden as part of a series with similar contents. The execution of the foreground and the central figure is of impressive technical and artistic quality and turns the painting into a lovely and unusual cabinet piece by Raden Saleh."
Saleh Ben Jaggia, Raden 1811 Samarang (Java) - 1880 Buitenzorg Last resort. Signed and dated bottom left: Raden Saleh 1842. Oil on canvas. 154 x 168,5cm. Frame (194 x 207cm). Provenance: -1842 directly from the artist to Adolf H. Schletter (1793 - 1853); - in the 20s/30s of the 20th century through succsession until today. This painting is the largest work by Raden Saleh kown today. In cooperation with Sascha Tyrra Art Consulting Expertise: Dr. Werner Kraus, Passau, March 2011 Two sides, opposite to each other and yet both light and friendly, cast their magic spell over my soul. There the paradise of my childhood in the bright sunlight, washed by the Indian Ocean, where my beloved ones live and there the ashes of my ancestors rest. Here Europe's luckiest countries, where the arts, sciences and educational values shine like diamond jewellery, to where the yearning of my youth finally brought me; where I was lucky enough to find friends within the noblest circles, friends who replaced father, mother, brothers and sisters. Between these two worlds my heart is split. These are the sentences with which the Javanese painter Raden Saleh, whose 200th birthday we are celebrating this year, opens his autobiography, which he handed to his Dresden friends on 25 January 1849. After a happy and artistically successful period, he thus took leave of his 'second home' and prepared for his return to Java. During the past ten years he had established himself as an outstanding oriental painter among the Late Romantic artists in Dresden, achieving social and personal recognition. After gaining much attention with oriental hunting pictures since 1840, he began to turn towards a new composition scheme in 1842: the relationship between attacking lions, fleeing horse and surprised horseback rider. The central statement of this pictorial arrangement is the superiority of the untamed over the domesticated element, of nature over culture. To intensify the dramatic conflict of this situation, Saleh placed the group inside a dramatic natural setting: gorge, waterfall and oriental flora. He thus confirmed the Late Romantic concept of the oriental other in an exemplary way. The constructed other, the savage, formed a sharp contrast to the protected bourgeois world of the 19th century. The pleasant shiver it sent down the viewer's spine could be calculated and controlled, it was a theatrical fear. With his art, Raden Saleh deliberately fed into social expectations. The painting presented here represents the climax of this thematic development. In a number of sketches, preliminary drawings and small-sized oil paintings that all struggle to solve the same problem - how to relate lion and horse to one another? - Raden Saleh prepared for his masterstroke. Initially he tried to capture the murderous dynamic of the lion on the attack and the sheer panic of the fleeing horse in drawings. Two extant works which are more than sketches (Ills. 1 and 2) demonstrate that he soon succeeded in his attempt. Since one of the drawings was given to the Queen of Prussia as a present, we may assume that Raden Saleh was satisfied with the result. One reason why he succeeded so quickly may have been that he was able to base his solution regarding the panicky horse on a well-known work by Horace Vernet (Mazeppa, 1826; Ill. 3). Saleh had a special predilection for this French painter, whose dynamic compositions and strong colours impressed him greatly. The horses in the sketches, the large oil painting and the later small oil paintings (one of them was auctioned off at Christie's Amsterdam on 8.3.2011) not only show the same dynamics but even the same colour of fur as Vernet's Mazeppa horse. This indicates that Raden Saleh by no means tried to hide the fact that he was quoting but rather wanted to emphasise it. It is an endorsement of Vernet's concept of art which, as we know, was in opposition to that of Delacroix. Seen from this perspective, the picture in question is no less than a manifesto of Saleh's concept of art. History of the painting Last Resort Last Resort was created in 1842, which was a very productive year for Saleh. The picture drew much attention, and that same year Dresden artist H.F. Grünewald was commissioned to lithograph the painting. He called his lithography The Attack of the Lion after Raden Saleh. In 1843 this sheet was given to all participants in the Tiedge lottery as a present by the Tiedge Foundation in Dresden. The work thus achieved very wide distribution. (The Tiedge Foundation was a charitable foundation to aid impoverished artists). Another reproduction of the painting, a steel engraving, was enclosed in the English periodical Payne's Universum or Pictorial World as a present for early subscribers in 1845. The sheet was announced as follows: A splendid Premium Plate, engraved in the line manner, of the 'Attack of the Lion' after the picture of his H.R.H. Prince Raden Saleh, measuring 17 inches by 13 inches, printed on sheet imperial paper, and equal in execution to the plates of the art union. Payne selected the work because he owned an art publishing house in Leipzig, where he had this sheet engraved. Payne's Universum was also marketed in America. As a consequence, this sheet made the artist R. S. known in the States as early as 1845. The early distribution of the lithographed or engraved version of the painting throughout Europe and North America may explain why several 19th-century reproductions exist in the form of drawings. Some of them were offered as originals by Raden Saleh by the auction house Larasati in Singapore on 12.03.2011, but withdrawn after I clarified the matter. Even though the painting fascinated contemporary viewers immediately after its completion, it was not sent to any exhibition. The reason seems to have been that it was acquired early on. In a letter to the Dutch Secretary of Colonial Affairs J. C. Baud (written on 17 May 1844 at Callenberg Castle near Coburg) Raden Saleh mentioned that he had sold two paintings to the collector Adolf Heinrich Schletter in Leipzig: Die Dresden saya soedah bikin djoega gambar darie Djawa orang boeroe sapie oetan (Banteng). Jang kedoeanja satu orang Arab (Bedoeinen) naek koeda satoe singga tangkep sama diea, inie doea gambar die bellie katoean Schletter die Leipzig arga 200 lui d'ore. In Dresden I painted pictures with Javanese themes: Javanese men on a bull hunt. Another one shows an Arab (a Bedouin) riding on a horse which is attacked by a lion. I sold these two pictures to Mr Schletter in Leipzig, for a price of 200 louis d'or. (Translated from the German translation by Werner Kraus) (Since one louis d'or weighed 6.7 g and consisted of 22-carat gold, Raden Saleh received 1.34 kilograms of 22-carat gold as compensation for the two pictures, or 0.67 kg for Attack of the Lion - an incredibly high price for a painting in those days.) Adolf Heinrich Schletter, who owned three pictures by Raden Saleh, was one of the most eminent art collectors in Saxony. In his testament he requested that his 80 pictures become the basic stock of a museum to be built in Leipzig, today's Museum of Fine Arts. When the works were handed over, however, only Bull Hunt was still in the collection. The two other paintings by Saleh, Portrait of a Man and Last Resort, had already been removed. We do not know who owned Last Resort after Schletter. In all likelihood it remained in a German collection. In short, the history of the painting as outlined above reveals that the Last Resort was recognised as a great and significant work even by the artist's contemporaries. Not only did it earn an unusually high price, it was also graphically reproduced several times. For a while it must have had a solid public presence, and it is difficult to explain why it was later forgotten, only to be found again just now. The formidable painting shows merely insignificant retouching work and very minor damage to the canvas. It has not been relined. The stretcher bars and the gilded frame are probably originals. The overall condition can be described as excellent. The painting Last Resort, which was painted in Dresden in 1842, is without any doubt an original work by Raden Saleh. Passau, 23 March 2011 Dr Werner Kraus Director Centre for Southeast Asian Art
Raden SALEH SARIEF BUSTAMAN (1811-1880) Ecole Indonésiene Portrait d'homme devant un paysage Millboard, signé et daté en bas à gauche Porte au dos une étiquette G ROWNEY and CO 22,5 x 17,7 cm - 8 7/8 x 7 in. Millboard, signed and dated lower left, G ROWNEY and CO label on the reverse
Raden Sarief Bastaman Saleh (Semarang 1811-1880 Buitenzorg) An Arabic horseman and his horse in the desert signed and dated 'Raden Saleh f 1843.' (lower left) oil on canvas 45.4 x 54.5 cm.
Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh (1811-1880) Portrait of Ary Prins (1816-1867) signed and dated 'R. Saleh 1838' (upper right), and signed and dated again (upper right) oil on canvas 79 x 62.5 cm.
RADEN SARIEF BUSTANAM SALEH (TERBOYO, JAVA CIRCA 1807-1880 BOGOR, JAVA) Un lion attaquant un cheval tandis que son cavalier s'accroche à une branche, dans un paysage exotique signé et daté 'R. Saleh 1832' craie noire et blanche, sur papier brun 325 x 425 mm.
Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh (Terboyo, Java circa 1807-1880 Bogor, Java) A tiger killing a sika deer dated 'VI.I.78' and inscribed 'R.Saleh' (verso) pencil, heightened with white and gum arabic 8½ x 11½ in. (216 x 292 mm.)
Signed bottom right: Raden Saleh ft. Oil on Cardboard. 30,5 x 40,5cm. Framed. Overleaf side: An old gummed label of the artists' materials dealer R. Davy, London. Expertise: Dr. Werner Kraus. Passau, 19. September 2007: (...) The painting presented here have been unkown to research up to now and is an intersting supplement to the oeuvre of the artist which consists of more than 200 paintings. During 1838 a new motif appeared in the work of Raden Sarief: Lions, tigers and snakes as well as some horses. The new imagery, which should be seen as preliminary to his hunting scenes, was induced by his friendship to the animal trainer and showman Henri Martin (...) The first known painting of Raden Saleh which contains lions, horses and snakes was painted in 1838. The last in 1841 in Dresden. It became property of Duke Ernst II of Saxony, Coburg and Gotha and currently can be found in the Museum Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha. This painting sets the connection between the earlier animal paintings and the later hunting depictions and is the conclusion of this period. Snakes did not appear in Saleh's works thereafter. The discussed painting's date of origin can therefore be presumed between 1838 and 1841. Based on the painterly and technical qualities of the work at hand, I am inclined to set the date of origin later than the above mentioned works. Presumably it originated in the summer of 1839 in Berlin where Saleh, according to his own assertion completed three copies, three sketches and six originals. The here presented work can be one of these originals(...) We thank Dr. Werner Kraus for his kind support.
The Dutch colonial troops patrolling Mt. Merapi & Merbabu, Central Java signed 'R. Saleh 1871' (lower right) oil on canvas 27 1/2 x 41 1/4 in. (70 x 105 cm.)
A family promenades along a path with two tigers in wait and the Borobudur in the background signed and dated 'Raden Saleh 1849' (lower right) oil on canvas 44 x 61 in. (112 x 156 cm.) Christie's wishes to thank Jonkheer Drs. W. F. Rappard for his inspection of the present lot. Jonkheer Drs. W. F. Rappard has kindly confirmed the authenticity of the present lot. Jonkheer Drs. W. F. Rappard is the Curator of 19th Century Art of Netherlands Institute for Art History, The Hague (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie).
The last embrace of foes: a Bedouin horseman attacked by a lion signed with initials and dated 'R S f 1844' (lower right) oil on canvas 13 x 20 in. (33 x 51 cm.) PROVENANCE Collection of Adolf Heinrich Schletter, Leipzig. LITERATURE J. de Loos-Haaxman, Verlaat Rapport Indi‰, the Hague, 1968, p. 58 & 61. Werner Kraus, Raden Saleh, ein Javanischer Maler in Deutschland, oral speech, 24st Orientalistentag, Cologne September 26-30, 1983. NOTES Raden Saleh was preoccupied with painting wild animals ever since he attended a circus performance at Henri Martin's circus in The Hague in 1836. The possibility to study these animals within the safe confines of the circus undoubtedly contributed to the painter's further artistic development. In a letter adressed to Baron van de Capellen dated 8 October 1837, Raden Saleh's maecenas M.E. Verstege alludes to the painter's budding artistic ambitions:"Hij wil vrij zijn en ongedwongen, onbelemmerd de onderwerpen die in zijn ziel oprijzen ten uitvoer brengen". (op. cit. Alg. Rijksarchief, The Hague, archive J.C. Baud, no 555. transl. as: "he wants to be free and unconstrained, to create unobstructed subjects that rise from his soul"), as well as to his new sources of inspiration:"... de wilde dynamische krachten van het machtige dier in het oerwoud, de hero‹ek van het snelle, steigerende paard". (ibid. transl. as: "... the savage dynamic forces of the mighty wild animal; the heroism of the swift, prancing horse".) After returning to Holland in 1830, Raden Saleh studied under the tutelage of Cornelis Kruseman and Andreas Schelfhout and devoted himself mainly to painting portraits and landscapes. Raden Saleh's striking portraits were already very much sought after during his life and ordered by amongst others Dutch nobility and the government. The artist's landscapes soon matched the work of the highly respected Schelfhout, but reflected an apparent discontent with the traditional and tempered Dutch Romanticism at the same time. Raden Saleh felt himself drawn to the more flamboyant and authentic French and German Romanticism and started his search for artistic expression of hero‹sm and drama, mythology or Biblical history. Raden Saleh had few chances of becoming a history painter according to Western tradition. He nevertheless finished a monumental painting of Daniel in the Lion's Den in 1837. To his maecenas' great indignation, Raden Saleh spent a lot of money creating a suitable and above all inspiring atmosphere to work in. Books, sculptures, stuffed animals and prints were bought by the artist at great expense. It is very tempting to assume the artist at this time possessed prints such as Lion d'Atlas by Delacroix and hunting scenes by Rubens. By order of the Dutch government Raden Saleh was given an allowance to visit various art collections in different European cities. The painter successively visited Dsseldorf, Frankfurt and Berlin in the spring of 1839. The Dutch foreign service located his whereabouts after more than a year. Just like Delacroix, Raden Saleh enjoyed painting horses enormously. The Romantics regarded the horses as the embodiment of power and passion, the romantic horse gallops, prances and is constantly in motion. It is during this period that the first hunting scenes with lions and tigers attacking horses start to appear. Paintings that emphasized action, turbulence, drama and hero‹sm expressed the ferocity of the wild animals and the fear of the horses. Raden Saleh depicted the animal's skin with great skill and accuracy, thus giving the image extra dynamism. Paintings with Javanese buffalo hunts or oriental lion hunts as the subject-matter were very popular in Germany. In a letter to the Secretary of Colonial Affairs J.C. Baud, Raden Saleh explains why wildlife- and oriental hunting scenes will constitute his main subject matter: "Sebap im kampf en gevecht, orang darie Europa djarang jang bisa bikin sebap da lain dia poenja ingettan djadie saja ada oentoeng, sebap saja orang darie Aziea" (op. cit. Alg. Rijksarchief, colonial archives, letter to J.C. Baud, undated, probably late 1840, transl. as "Hunting themes are scarcely depicted by European painters because they are not in accordance with their nature. As an Asiatic that is my good fortune"). In a letter dated 17 June 1844 Raden Saleh mentioned the sale of two paintings to A.H. Schletter, a silk trader and art collector from Leipzig, for 200 Louis d'Ors. One being a bull hunt, now in the Leipzig Museum fr Bildende Kunste, the other Raden Saleh described as "Satoe orang Arab (Bedoeinen) naek koeda satoe singa tangkep sama diea" (ibid.). Dr Werner Kraus identifies the above described as the present lot in a letter to the present owner dating 22 September 1997. As Raden Saleh visited Munich in 1845 it is most likely that he saw Rubens' Lion Hunt. Rubens' combat scenes with wild animals totally captured the Romantic imagination. It is known that Delacroix, one of the undisputed leaders of the Romantic movement in Europe, sought inspiration for his exotic works in prints after Rubens and in the verses of the famous Romantic poet Lord Byron. Raden Saleh may have identified himself with EugŠne Delacroix's unconventional attitude towards social and aesthetic traditions. After losing his good friend Ernst I, Raden Saleh, embarked on his Paris period, where he was given the opportunity to work in Horace Vernet's studio. It remains uncertain whether Raden Saleh eventually joined Vernet, who was commissioned to decorate the Mus‚e National de Versailles with North African combat scenes, to Algiers. The fact however that the present lot is to be dated to his Dresden period proves that Raden Saleh was already familiar with at least one of Horace Vernet's most famous compositions titled mazeppa and based on Lord Byron's epic poem. The hero in Byron's poem is tied to a horse and then driven into the wilderness. Vernet chose to illustrate the moment that the man and horse are attacked by a wolf. The similarities with the present lot are striking: the interaction between the wild animals and the man on horseback as well as the central positioning of the group and the appearance of the horse are nearly identical. A preparatory drawing for the present lot signed in full and dated 18 March 1842, is kept in the Kupferstich Kabinett, Dresden, supports the above theory. The human figure is left out in this sketch and depicts only the grey horse attacked by a lion. This drawing is the mirrored composition of the present lot, and stands even nearer to Vernet's mazeppa, as the horse is placed in the identical position. Raden Saleh's motif of the attacked Arab horseman, who shoots the predator at close range with a long pistol and at the same time falls into an abyss, seems to illustrate what Lord Byron described as The Last Embrace of Foes. From 1845 until his return to Holland in 1845, Raden Saleh rented a large studio in Paris at the expense of the Dutch government in which he could paint the unrestrained dynamic power of the wild animal. And for these canvases he indeed needed space. It is during this period that the artist created his most brilliant representations of combat scenes such as the monumental deerhunt from 1846, the equally large On life and death from 1848 (destroyed by fire in the Colonial Exhibition in Paris in 1931) and the Buffalo hunt from 1851. The compositions of hunting-scenes with wild animals, which originate from both the Dresden and Paris periods form the nucleus of Raden Saleh's work. The present lot compares to the large canvases from the Paris period, regarding the grand composition and its heroic and spectacular subject matter. The lion hunt has been painted according to the Romantic tradition and is inspired by the same forces that played a part in Delacroix' and Vernet's Orientalism. A copy of a letter of authenticity by Dr. Werner Kraus is available to the prospectine buyer as well as a copy of a letter of authenticity dated 28 October 1996 by Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Neidhardt. Drs Bruce van Rijk kindly confirmed the authenticity of the present lot, as did Drs W. Rappard of the RKD, The Hague, on the basis of a transparency.
The lion hunt signed and dated 'Raden Saleh f 1840' (lower left) oil on canvas 33 x 55 in. (85 x 140 cm.) PROVENANCE Prince Albert von Saxen Coburg-Gotha as indicated by a label on the stretcher. NOTES Raden Saleh was the student of A. A. Payen, a Belgian artist and was working under the influence of 18th century European Romanticism, notable Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix. As the first known native of the Dutch East Indies who painted in the Western style, he is often considered as a pioneer of Indonesian painting, in fact, his mastery of the Western skills is regarded as the East Indies equivalent to Western achievements. In 1829, he went to the Netherlands where he studied under the Dutch artists Cornelis Kruseman and Andreas Schelfhout. In 1839 he started an educational tour which would last for ten years. He visited Berlin, Dresden, and Coburg and was received by the high society and various European courts which were charmed by his exotic look, gentle manner and linguistic talent. During this time, he became friends with Ernst I, Grand Duke of Saxen-Coburg-Gotha, with whom he stayed no fewer than five years. When Ernst I died in 1844, Raden Saleh left for France, where he became an honoured guest at the Paris Salons . Before he embarked upon his tour in 1839 which brought him to Dresden and Paris, in 1836 when he was still studying in the Hague Raden Saleh met Henri Martin the circus master. Martin allowed the artist to study the animals of his circus carefully and Saleh executed between 1836 and 1839 several compositions of lions and tigers which are well documented. Henceforth, the artist had discovered the subject-matter which would bring him great fame and to which he would remain faithful during his entire career : the wild animal scenes. The present lot Lion hunt which was dated in 1840 is very possibly one of the exhibits in the artist's 1840 Dresden exhibition that announced his emergence as an artist. Dated in 1840, Lion hunt preceded the monumental The deer hunt of 1846. The affiliation between the two works is evident. "The composition with its three plans of mountains in the distance, a plan with tiny figures in the middle and the foreground with the lively, intermingling group of hunters and animals is outstanding. The colours are fresh and sparkling and the way the central figure is emphasized with light is unsurpassed. The rendering of details in the figures is most accurate and the nuances in the figure is emphasized with light is unsurpassed. The rendering of the details in the figures is most accurate and the nuances in the materials - animal skin, fabrics - are beautifully done." (Catalogue notes for lot 52, The deer hunt, Christie's Singapore, Southeast Asian Pictures auction, March 1996). The description could be applied to either picture interchangeably. Apart from the different geographical setting, both works sought to emphasize the action, turbulence, drama and heroism expressed the ferocity of the wild animals and the fear of the horses. In short, both contains the quintessential elements of the Romanticist tradition championed by Eugene Delacroix which maintained fascination with the mysterious, the dark, the spectacular and the wild, and which Mrs. De Loos-Haaxman has aptly described "he builds up his oeuvre to his characteristic and typical works in which men and animals play the leading role versus the omnipresence of Nature" ( Raden Saleh in Den Haag, 1965, pp. 74-75). The composition of hunting-scene with wild animals, which originated from both the Dresden and Paris period form the nucleus of Raden saleh's works. In a letter to the secretary of Colonial Affairs J.C. Baud, Raden Saleh explained why wildlife-and oriental hunting scenes will constitute his main subject matter: "Sebap im kampf en gevecht, orang darie Europa djarang jang bisa bikin sebap da lain dia poenja ingettan, djadie saja ada oentoeng sebap saja orang darie Aziea" (Ibid, Alg. Rijksarchief, colonial archives letter to J.C. Baud, undated, probably late 1840, transl. As "Hunting themes are scarcely depicted by European painters because they are not in accordance with their nature. As an Asiatic that is my good fortune.").
Combat between a buffalo and tiger signed and dated (scratched) "Raden Saleh ??, 1847" (lower right) oil on canvas 13 x 17 in. (32 x 44 cm.) NOTES Contextualised by the transformation of the Javanese aristocratic society in the early 19th century and their engagements with the Dutch colonial administration, Raden Saleh, himself a Javanese aristocrat, emerged as an artist in search of local imageries comparable to those he had seen in the works of European Romanticists. This is a balance he strove to reach between his European training and his attachment to his homeland. As such, he maintained fascination with the mysterious, the dark, the spectacular and the wild. He found nature the most appropriate stage for these elements and presented the forces of nature as both physical and psychological challenge against man's will and control; the combat at its most dramatic form is the specialty of the artist who aspired to emulate the French Romanticist - Eugene Delacroix.
