The Javanese self in portraiture from 1880-1955

Abstract

This thesis, The Javanese self in portraiture from 1880-1955 examines changing understandings and representations of the Javanese self in painted and photographic portraits spanning 75 years from 1880-1955. During this period, Indonesian modern art followed a trajectory from its 19th century beginnings within the domain of exclusive privilege, through the socially engaged Persagi painters to the opening of the first National art school, Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia. In tandem there was a dramatic shift in the public’s understanding of two concepts: the modern individual and the nation state of Indonesia. The two however are not mutually inclusive and in many cases the modern individual precluded the nation. One must consider that the colonial state, rather than the Republic, was the defining structure into which many of the major players in Indonesian modern art were born and in which they operated. Furthermore, certain individuals crystallised their sense of national consciousness whilst living abroad and in many instances working in conjunction with the Dutch. In some cases the modern individual was situated in an isolated position, far outside any notions of a shared experience with an imagined community. Whilst this thesis is concerned with the biographies of individuals and is deeply committed to a social history of art, the focus on individuals is not made in order to reveal broader assumptions regarding society, but rather to reveal nuanced and sometimes very personal expressions of modernism. Because the appearances of modernism were not always concurrent or consistent with societal modernity, we cannot plot an uninterrupted or continuous path for Indonesian modern art. Yet a number of societal changes that came about during the period from high colonialism to independence affected class structure and gender, giving rise to altered states of selfhood and new methods of artistic expression. It is precisely the complex set of transactions between the individual, larger society and the economic and political conditions of the time that this thesis sets out to articulate in order to reveal a number of significant characteristics regarding the possibilities of self representation in portraiture. First, the early history of Indonesian modern art is plotted in terms of cooperative relationships between Javanese aristocrats and Dutch men. Secondly, that whilst appearing conservative and pro-Dutch, these Javanese artists were critical in initiating a discourse on modern art and in establishing a position of cultural nationalism, domestically and abroad. Finally, the conjunction of the first two points demonstrates that the history of modern Indonesian art began much earlier than previously believed and, perhaps even more significantly, was attached to the idea of Indonesian cultural and national self-determination at a very early stage of its development.