L'entrée des artistes
In: Archipel, Band 71, Heft 1, S. 5-52
Pierre Labrousse, Institut national des Langues et Civilisations orientales, Paris L'entrée des artistes
Oil painting, despite earlier forms that can be found in Javanese craftsmanship, is a modern creation. The paramount promoter of this new type of art was Raden Saleh, who was the first painter to publicize the position of the artist. His particular way of performing his trade, in the context of colonial society and of the Yogyakarta kraton is analysed in the first part of the article. Another reason for the prestige attached to painting was found in the social origin of pre-war and independence-era artists. These generations of lesser priyayi artists were aware that the ideology of nationalism that they had taken up was a way to recover an eminent position in the new society. As new painting academies were established in universities, this trend intensified and resulted in the emergence of a new kind of power, that of discourses on painting. Regarding their relation to politics, artists were part of the prince's court under Soekarno, as well as under the New Order, although in a less personal way.
