Bidspirit auction | Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia: Landscape

Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia: Landscape with a View of the Merapi Volcano on Java - SALEH BEN JAGGIA, RADEN 1811 Samarang (Java) - 1880 Buitenzorg Title: Landscape with a View of the Merapi Volcano on Java. Date: Ca. 1867. Technique: Oil on canvas. Measurement: 30 x 43,5cm. Frame: Framed. Certificate: Werner Kraus, Passau, 17/07/2024, copy available. Material analysis: Art in Lab, Paris, 12/06/2024, copy available. The painting was subjected to the following analyses in May-June 2024 Examination with ultraviolet light, digital microscope, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (SFX), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). These analyses show that the pigments match the biographical data of Raden Saleh (1811-1880) and indicate that the work was created in the years 1850-1860. Provenance: Private ownership, France; Art market, London (as 'Dutch School'); Art market, Belgium (as 'Calame Umkreis').   Mount Merapi, literally meaning fire mountain, is one of the most active volcanoes on the island of Java. Its Javanese name is derived from Meru, the exemplary centre of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, and api, which means fire. Its name alone makes it the imaginary centre of the world, the pivot and nail in the universe. For millions of years, the periodic eruptions of the volcano have supplied the soil in its immediate vicinity and in neighbouring areas with abundant mineral nutrients. At the same time, its gentle slope, which extends to the southern sea, enabled the establishment of complex and extensive irrigation systems, which formed the basis for the successful cultivation of wet rice. The resulting agricultural wealth was in turn the basis for the establishment of local states and the adoption of more complex Indian-style administrative and religious structures. No economic, political and cultural developments would have been possible without the central role of the Merapi volcano. It is the main player in this system, which is emphasised by its central position in Javanese state theory and mythology to this day. Merapi is not just one of many mountains of fire on the island: it is the central mountain. Men as diverse as the brilliant geologist Wilhelm Junghuhn and the painter Raden Saleh understood this central importance of Merapi in Javanese culture. Junghuhn, who climbed and described all 43 volcanoes in Java, began with Merapi in 1838, and Raden Saleh painted no other mountain in Java with the same attention and precision as Merapi. The Merapi volcano can be found as a motif in at least 12 paintings by Raden Saleh. In most of these paintings, the mountain is the central theme; one could almost speak of 'portraits' of Merapi. Unlike the mountains around Bogor, such as Gunung Salak, Gunung Gedeh and Gunung Pangerango, which often appear as backgrounds in his West Javanese landscape paintings, Raden Saleh (mostly) depicts Merapi as a solitaire. This indicates that he was aware of the mystical significance, the sublimity, of the mountain and expressed this in his painting. In 1865, Raden Saleh decided to spend some time in Central Java. However, travelling from Batavia to the principalities (Central Java) was not easy. Permission from the authorities was needed, i.e. a passport, and this was only available if you could provide convincing reasons for the journey. Saleh had already applied for such a trip to Central Java in 1855, ten years earlier, to make studies for his painting 'Arrest of Diponegoro'. However, the government was not convinced of the necessity of this trip and rejected the request. Ten years later, he tried again to obtain a travel permit and this time he was less naive in his dealings with the administration. Saleh skilfully offered his services to the Bataviaasche Genootschap van Wetenschappen en Kunsten as a procurer of Javanese manuscripts. The board of the Genootschap therefore submitted a travel application with free use of post horses for Raden Saleh, which was approved by the government in May 1865. This cleared all obstacles out of the way and Raden Saleh was soon on his way. He arrived in Yogyakarta in August 1865. Between October and December 1865, the Merapi volcano was in a very active phase. Endless clouds of smoke and ash rose into the sky and millions of cubic metres of lava flowed over the crater rim. Raden Saleh climbed the smoking and rumbling mountain with a group of Dutchmen and local dignitaries and captured the magnificent natural spectacle on two canvases - Merapi erupting by day and Merapi erupting by night. He would later produce three replicas of this highly successful pair. Probably the most conspicuous sign of age and change in the image layer of paintings is craquelure. Also, the stretcher frame of the painting appears to be the original one. It bears an old label, the inscription of which can unfortunately no longer be deciphered. At the top left, we see either a seal bearing the name A. Calame,