Srihadi Soedarsono (1931) Lot n° 76

Srihadi Soedarsono (1931), 'Pemandangan Alam, Keukenhof' / A landscape with red bulb fields, signed and dateds 'Srihadi / 78' (upper right); signed again (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 100x80 cm, Exhibited: -Jakarta, Galeri Baru Lantai (TIM), Pameran Lukisan Srihadi, 15-20 November 1978, number 55 or 56 as: 'Pemandangan Alam, Keukenhof', illustrated. Provenance: -Collection of a former diplomat of the Dutch embassy in Jakarta 1975-1980, who bought the painting at the above mentioned exhibition. In this auction of Venduehuis Auctioneers the two lots on sale, 76 and 77, both depicting 'Landscape at Keukenhof', were displayed at a solo exhibition by Srihadi Soedarsono at the Jakarta Art Center in 1978. Ajip Rosidi, head of the Jakarta Art Center wrote: “Srihadi Soedarsono always offered his latest creation and invention in paintings at every exhibition … and there would always be a surprise!”. Srihadi Soedarsono was born in Solo in 1931. He studied at the Bandung Institute of Technology from 1952 to 1959, where he learned modernism as well as western art tradition and techniques from Ries Mulder, a lecturer at the time. In 1962, Srihadi completed his Master of Arts at the Ohio State University in the United States. It was there, that he became fascinated with the works of Mark Rothko (1903 – 1970), especially his use of color to exude, project and convey emotions. In the present lots, Rothko’s influence is refined and combined with Srihadi’s Javanese background and philosophy of looking for perfection. In Srihadi’s own words: “I try to reach infinity … and … it is with color that I get closer or farther with what I feel and watch.” (1*) Srihadi’s wife Farida Soedarsono studied at the famous Gerrit Rietveldt Kunstacademie in Amsterdam from 1976 to 1978 and it was during this time that Srihadi visited Keukenhof and eternalized the landscape of tulips into the two paintings offered here (lots 76 – 77). These two paintings were part of hi