Lot 591: S. SUDJOJONO (Indonesia 1914-1986)

Gunung Mesigit (Mesigit Mountain)
signed with initials, dated and inscribed 'S.S Bndi/1984' (upper left)
oil on canvas
24 x 35 in. (60 x 90 cm.)

A certificate of authenticity from the Museum S. Sudjojono, dated 6th August 2004 accompanies this painting.

"Who will show the world: 'Look, this is how we are'. A generation who will dare to say: 'This is how we are', which means this is our condition of life now, and these our desires.... The new artist would then no longer paint only the peaceful hut, blue mountains, romantic or picturesque and sweetish subjects, but also sugar factories and the emaciated peasants, the motor cars of the rich and the pants of the poor youth; the sandals, trousers and jacket of the man on the street.... This is our reality. And the living artist... who does not seek beauty in antiquity... or in the mental world of the tourist, will himself live as long as the world exists. Because high art is work based on our daily life transmuted by the artist himself who is immersed in it, and then creates."

- S. Sudjojono
(Astri Wright, Soul, Spirit, and Mountain: Preoccupations of Contemporary Indonesian Painters, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1994, p. 157-158)

The painting is also signed 'S. Sudjojono' (lower left).