The Monument of Nashar

Jakarta Post, Stanislaus Yangni, Contributor, Jakarta | Sun, 05/10/2009 12:47 PM

Launched at last month's opening of Nashar's memorial works - a solo painting exhibition - at the National Gallery, this heavyset book chronicles Nashar and his works.


Nashar (1928-1994), a distinguished Indonesian painter, has been overlooked amid burgeoning contemporary Indonesian art. Ideally, there should be an Indonesian modern art museum to display artworks created by Indonesian artists, especially those who contributed to Indonesian art history.

Without such a museum, small wonder Nashar's works were forgotten. In this view, Elegy in Art - On Nashar and His Paintings has this particular value, whatever its publishing background. The book is a "portable museum", with commentary about the artist and his works.

Today, Nashar's price appears to be higher in some auction houses, for example Borobudur, Masterpiece, and Heritage. Rumour has it the exhibition and the newly-published book are merely a tactic to inflate the value of Nashar's paintings. However, this analysis doesn't affect people being able to use this book for practical information on Nashar and his works.

Nashar, born in Parimanan, West Sumatra, had painted abstract, non-figurative paintings since 1977. Most of the pictures in this book are taken from Hendro Tan's wife's collection.

Emmy, Tan's wife, was a huge fan of Nashar's works. On the other hand, some figurative artworks are also included. The figurative style demonstrates Nashar's basic view on art: he looks beyond illustration, and into the essence.

Goenawan Mohamad, one of the writers, commented on Nashar's painting as "austere and candid, simple without any redecoration." Similar style could also be found in his abstract works: "na*ve" shapes and natural colours, without any pretention to decorate.

Ajip Rosidi, one of Indonesia's poets, friend of Nashar, and collector of his paintings, said Nashar would "sacrifice everything for his art: "worldly pleasures, his family life.."

But, such intensive painting is not the only one reason his works gained recognition in the Indonesian arts realm. His works were based on his profound contemplation and reflection.

Nashar was also a writer. He wrote about anything that was relevant to art and life. His writings took form as a journal, or a letter to someone - whom he always addressed as kawan (buddy).

A painter who writes about his thoughts and opinions about painting is very rare. Nashar's writing could be reflected as the artist's restlessness thinking about creativity and art activities. The writings were published in Surat-surat Malam (1976).

This anthology dedicated to Oey Emmy Christina (the late wife of collector Hendro Tan) is edited by Agus Dermawan T., an Indonesian arts writer. Agus Dermawan selected 12 articles by 12 writers from 130 articles about Nashar, which he collected from various newspapers, magazines, and Nashar's exhibition catalogues.

The articles were then categorized into three chapters. First chapter presents articles from Popo Iskandar, Goenawan Mohamad, Putu Wijaya, Maruli Tobing and the late Ray Rizal. Their writings enlightened readers about Nashar's place in the history of Indonesian modern art.

In the next chapter, Bambang Bujono, late Baharuddin M. S., late Sudarmaji dan Efix Mulyadi, specifically reviewed Nashar's artworks. All these reviews were published between 1973 and 1991. The editor claimed the chapter described Nashar's existence as an artist and the development of his paintings over time.

The last chapter presents notes from Nashar's close friends. Ajip Rosidi, Moeljanto D. S., and the editor, Agus Dermawan.

They write more personally about the artist who dedicated his whole life to painting. The three articles were published in the same year, 1994, the year of Nashar's death.

Ajip Rosidi provided the most comprehensive account of Nashar's life: a very determined person. Forbidden by his parents to paint, he in fact left everything he had only for one thing: painting. When Sudjojono, the "father" of Indonesian modern art, claimed Nashar didn't have any talent, Nashar kept painting. He didn't care about what people said. How could he? According to Putu Wijaya, a theater activist, Nashar said, if Sudjojono's claim was right, what he had to do was to break the boundaries between "talented" and "not talented."

Something that would make the book even more complete is other writings from the present. Now Indonesian art encompasses more than merely paintings and sculptures and graphic arts, but also installation arts, new media arts, video arts, and many others. In short, a freshly written piece considering the latest art approach to Nashar is needed.

The Nashar we find in this book is Nashar as a memorial monument. A Nashar that lives merely as a memory, not the Nashar whose paintings are still featured in several exhibitions and several auction houses.

However, this impressive-looking book, with hardcover-binding, full-colour pages and decorated with writings from famous names the likes of Goenawan Mohamad, Ajip Rosidi, and Putu Wijaya, offers no novelty.

It feels like it was published years ago. In this book, analysis and discourse about Nashar in the middle of postmodernism art is absent. It would feel different if the book was dated, say, in 1995.

Elegi Artistik Tentang Nashar dan Lukisan-Lukisannya (Bilingual)
Agus Dermawan T. (editor)
Indonesian Fine Art Lovers Association (ASPI), 2009
330 pages