AH2202 Visual Analysis Paper

Rachelle Goh Yue Xian (A0129787J)

Tutorial Group: E1

AH2202: Modern Art

Word Count: 1,547

Introduction

Sindudarsono Sudjojono’s 1939 painting, Di Depan Kelambu Terbuka, or Before the Open

Mosquito Net, is one of the best known Indonesian paintings from the Persagi (Persatuan Ahli

Gambar Indonesia) group of ‘new generation’ painters during the pre-World War II period1. As a

prolific critic, artist and activist, Sudjojono was a prominent figure in developing modernity in

Indonesia during the early 20th century. This painting marks a growing modern Indonesian art

movement against the backdrop of an emerging Indonesian nationalism and the struggle for state

sovereignty2, as a new generation of Indonesian artists sought to revolutionize and distinguish

Indonesian art by portraying what was ‘real’ or the ‘visible soul’ of Indonesia. Sudjojono’s

expressionistic adoption of social realism is distinguishable in this painting through the subject

matter, composition, technique and artistic style. At the same time, reading this image in view of

Sudjojono’s personal experiences and its context of colonial and Javanese influence gives us a

view of Sudjojono’s perspective of the underlying gender and political relations between men and

women.

1
Joanna Lee, "From National Identity to the Self: Themes in Modern Indonesian Art." In Modernity and Beyond:

Themes in Southeast Asian Art, by T.K. Sabapathy, Danielle Van Poppel, Joanna Lee, Ahmad Mashadi and Susie

Koay (Singapore: Singapore Art Museum.), 17 - 31.

2
Yvonne Spielmann, "Positions in Modern and Contemporary Art." In Contemporary Indonesian Art, by

Yvonne Spielmann, (Singapore: NUS Press Singapore, 2015), 51 - 61.

 Sindudarsono Sudjojono, Di Depan Kelambu Terbuka (Before the Open Mosquito Net), 1939,

Oil on Canvas, 89 x 66 cm, Presidential Collection, Jakarta

Key Visual Analysis

From a cursory look, the first thing that strikes the viewer in Sudjojono’s Before the Open

Mosquito Net is the pronounced sense of proximity between the viewer and the woman in the

picture. The central female figure, known as Adhesi, dominates the foreground and her presence

is palpable throughout the composition of the painting, commanding the immediate attention of

the viewer. The woman leans into the viewer, the weight of her body resting on her left arm, while

the right side of her body relaxes on the arm chair. Her piercing gaze is fixed on the viewer, while

her expression remains cold and glum. Sudjojono captures this moment of intimacy between the
woman and the person that she stares at by adopting a subjective perspective in the painting – an

expressionist technique employed to evoke an emotional effect. The painting is painted with heavy

and expressive brushstrokes, creating a sense of visual and emotional intensity. The use of

expressive brushstrokes and subjective perspective creates an intimate, almost claustrophobic

ambience that cloaks the melancholy disposition of the central female figure.

The Influence of Western Artistic Styles

The influence of Western artistic styles is unmistakably apparent in this painting – the

expressionist style that Sudjojono has adopted has roots that can be traced to the Expressionist

movement that originated in the Western world, particularly in Germany. Moreover, the format

that Sudjojono worked with is oil on canvas, a medium which originated not in Indonesia but in

Europe, and was the format often used for Western paintings. This characteristic was not just

unique to Sudjojono’s painting. In Sudjojono’s words about the Indonesian art from this period,

“The things and themes depicted are Indonesian, but the character of the brushwork and the colour

feeling are still Western… The compositions are indistinguishable from those of… European

painters who live here”3, From Before the Open Mosquito Net, it is evident how earlier modern

Indonesian art was very much influenced by Western styles and emerged from Western techniques

and formats. However, that is not to say that Indonesian art was not distinct from Western styles

of art. While modern Indonesian art grew out of Western art, as it was adapted it became

increasingly antithetical to the ‘West’ as Indonesian artists fought for the consciousness of a

3
Joan Kee, "Introduction to Contemporary Southeast Asian Art," Third Text 25 no. 4 (2011): 371 - 381.
national identity and sought to create their own modern art that was distinct4. Sudjojono led this

Indonesian art movement with the founding of Persagi, where he called for Indonesian artists to

paint the “visible soul” of the nation and address the social reality and people. As Sudjojono as

described the role of Western influence on Indonesian art, “We will use their (the Europeans)

works as a landmark… not only to enable artists to become artistic, but also… to become as

artistically conscious as Indonesia was before in the past.”5

Social Realism – A Counter-Model for Modern Art in Indonesia

Before the Open Mosquito Net is a sharp contrast to the conventional genre of art in Indonesia

termed “Beautiful-Indies” art or “Mooi Indie” at the time. The “Beautiful-Indies” approach was

the preferred genre of the colonial Dutch, which produced idealistic and romanticized views of

Indonesia’s landscape and local people, while omitting the harsh reality of colonial oppression and

exploitation6. Sudjojono rebels against this by drawing on themes and subjects that gives life to a

form of social realism in this painting. The key subject matter is a prostitute engaged in some form

of dialogue or transaction with what could be a potential client. The woman’s hair is worn loosely,

and she is dressed in a traditional floral-patterned kebaya and a black sarong skirt, with a vivid red

stripe running down to anchor the viewer’s perspective of the angle at which she is seated. The

4
Jim Supangkat, "Indonesia in Contemporary Art Discourses." In Contemporaneity: Contemporary Art in Indonesia,

by Jim Supangkat, 39. (Beijing: Timezone 8, 2010.)

5
Sindudarmo Sudjojono, "We Know Where We Will Be Taking Indonesian Art." Southeast of Now: Directions in

Contemporary Modern Art in Asia, 1 no. 2 (1948): 159 - 164.

6
Yvonne Spielmann, "Positions in Modern and Contemporary Art." In Contemporary Indonesian Art, by Yvonne

Spielmann, 51 - 61. (Singapore: NUS Press Singapore, 2015.)

insertion of traditional Indonesian dress localizes the painting to the Javanese heritage, while the

muted tones and colours of her clothing give us a sense of an Indonesian woman in everyday reality

presented in the portrait, as opposed to the highly exoticized and romanticized portrayal of local

women under the view of the Western gaze. The space that the woman occupies in the composition

and the sheer size of the portrait immediately commands the attention of the viewer. Despite the

relatively mundane subject matter, the artist confers the woman a sense of importance, making her

concrete presence felt, thus presenting the common humanity of someone from a less-than-

idealistic background. From this, we see that while Sudjojono has adopted a traditionally Western

medium and genre of portrait painting, Before the Open Mosquito Net is a nationalistic defiance

to these conventions with the incorporation of local Indonesian themes, and a subject matter that

reflects the daily life and social reality of Indonesia. Thus, this presents a counter-model to the

“Mooi Indie” genre, to make way for Indonesian art that depicts daily life and reality with vivid

intensity and expressiveness. As Sudjojono stated himself, “These new painters will not just

depict… picturesque and saccharine subjects. They will also paint the sugar factories and the

emaciated farmers… Because high quality art comes from daily life, it is obtained through the

artist’s inner life, which is inseparably bound with his daily surroundings.”7

Gender and Power Relations

Before the Open Mosquito Net also gives us sense of the underlying gender and power relations

between the female subject and the masculine perspective in the context of Javanese society,

addressing Sudjojono’s expression of self-identity in the painting. The female subject is a

7
Sindudarsono Sudjojono, "Indonesian Art Now and in the Future." In Modern Indonesian Painting, by Helena

Spanjaard. (London: Sotheby's, 1939.)

prostitute who exists outside of the socially accepted conventional marital arrangement between

men and women in Javanese society8, and in this portrait we see her in direct confrontation with

the viewer, possibly engaging in a dialogue with her client. This forces the viewer to experience

this psychological space, and to explore the dynamic of the relationship between the female sex

worker and her client. The woman is framed by the veil of the mosquito net hanging from the

bedpost, which is parted to reveal curled iron frame of the bed behind the woman, suggesting a

possible sexual transaction that may be taking place in the painting. The assertiveness of the central

female figure in the foreground is juxtaposed by the sexually suggestive association of her with

the bed in the background. While the viewer is confronted with a portrait of a prostitute that

dominates the frame in a relatively public manner, the space that she is presented to occupy

remains in the private sphere. Matt Cox contends that the painting should be read in light of

Sudjojono’s own personal experiences, and as his attempt to establish and assert his masculinity

within the prevailing social structures that define class and gender, under both colonial and

Javanese influences. At the growing stages of Indonesian modern art, Sudjojono and his

contemporaries in Persagi viewed the role of the artist as a nationalistic hero, while depicting

Indonesian women was a way for them to reclaim their masculinity from the colonial influence

and dominance. Cox suggests that the mosquito net represents a division between the private and

public sphere that separates male and female subjectivity by dividing the picture plane to visually

separate the pre- and post-coital spaces of male and female sexuality8. As such, Sudjojono

presented women as occupying two gendered spheres – the private and public spaces.

8
Matt Cox, "The Painting of Prostitutes in Indonesian Modern Art," Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary

Modern Art in Asia, 1 no. 2 (2017): 41 - 63.

Conclusion

In Before the Open Mosquito Net, we can see how Sudjojono has adopted a revolutionary

approach to modern art that emerged from the West through his commitment to an authentic and

honest approach to painting and depicting the “visible soul” of Indonesia. This painting, along

with the works from the exhibition of the Persagi painters9, marks the growth and development of

a distinctly Indonesian modern art style as artists sought to create art that was a genuine expression

of national identity as well as of the self, amidst the struggle and emergence from Dutch colonial

influence. Sudjojono’s influence on modern art in Indonesia remains today, as artists continually

seek to evolve and develop a distinguished Indonesian artistic style.

9
Joanna Lee, "From National Identity to the Self: Themes in Modern Indonesian Art." In Modernity and Beyond:

Themes in Southeast Asian Art, by T.K. Sabapathy, Danielle Van Poppel, Joanna Lee, Ahmad Mashadi and Susie

Koay, 17 - 31. (Singapore: Singapore Art Museum, 1996.)

Bibliography

Spielmann, Yvonne. 2015. "Positions in Modern and Contemporary Art." In Contemporary

Indonesian Art, by Yvonne Spielmann, 51 - 61. Singapore: NUS Press Singapore.

Chua, Kevin. 2018. "Courbet after Sudjojono." Association for Art History 4 (2): 292 - 317.

Cox, Matt. 2017. "The Painting of Prostitutes in Indonesian Modern Art." Southeast of Now:

Directions in Contemporary Modern Art in Asia 1 (2): 41 - 63.

Lee, Joanna. 1996. "From National Identity to the Self: Themes in Modern Indonesian Art." In

Modernity and Beyond: Themes in Southeast Asian Art, by T.K. Sabapathy, Danielle Van Poppel,

Joanna Lee, Ahmad Mashadi and Susie Koay, 17 - 31. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum.

Kee, Joan. 2011. "Introduction to Contemporary Southeast Asian Art." Third Text 25 (4): 371 -

381.

Supangkat, Jim. 2010. "Indonesia in Contemporary Art Discourses." In Contemporaneity:

Contemporary Art in Indonesia, by Jim Supangkat, 39. Beijing: Timezone 8.

Sudjojono, Sindudarsono. 1939. "Indonesian Art Now and in the Future." In Modern Indonesian

Painting, by Helena Spanjaard. London: Sotheby's.

Sudjojono, Sindudarmo. 1948. "We Know Where We Will Be Taking Indonesian Art." Southeast

of Now: Directions in Contemporary Modern Art in Asia 1 (2): 159 - 164.