Southeast Asian Oil Paintings: Supports and Preparatory Layers

Southeast Asian oil paintings: supports and preparatory layers Nicole Tse and Robyn Sloggett ABSTRACT Oil painting practice emerged in Southeast Asia in the nineteenth century. Preliminary identification of artists’ supports and preparatory layers from the region illustrate that their adopted practices reflect ‘Western’ techniques. However they are not direct reproductions. Contributing factors such as the availability of local materials, and the artist’s training and material conditions aided in the development of a cultural practice representative of its geographic location. This paper draws upon a current research project, with partners from cultural institutions in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and the University of Melbourne, which has examined 208 oil paintings from the period c.1900 to the 1950s. KEYWORDS canvas paintings, tropical climates, Southeast Asia, materials, techniques Introduction of historic canvas paintings in public and private owner- ship. The painting materials and techniques now used in Studies of the transference of cultural practice have, in Southeast Asian art were originally developed for temper- the main, focused on the interest generated in Europe ate conditions. This paper provides a preliminary study by particular objects, or cross-cultural influences, often identifying the materials and techniques of artists’ sup- framed as the ‘exotic’. Recent scholarship (Madeline and ports and preparatory layers of oil paintings from collec- Martin 2006) is exploring the dialogue around such inter- tions in Malaya, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. actions. Conservation studies of Western artists’ use of It seeks to determine whether the adopted materials and materials and techniques have extended our understand- techniques reflect their origin of practice, being European, ing of art practice but predominantly within the con- or incorporate practices relating to geographic location. fines of European art. Writers such as Flores (1998) and This study was undertaken as a three-year joint project Poshyananda (1992) have provided seminal accounts of between the National Art Gallery of Malaysia (Balai Seni the history of Western-informed art practice in Southeast Lukis Negara), the J.B. Vargas Museum at the University Asia. Nevertheless few material or technical studies focus of the Philippines (UP), the Heritage Conservation Centre on art practice in Southeast Asia. Such studies serve to in Singapore, the National Gallery in Bangkok and the broaden and contextualise discussions of artists’ practice. Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (CCMC) at This paper is the result of recent research that aims to the University of Melbourne in Australia. It focused on explore artistic practice and the choice of materials in a survey examination of canvas paintings with some spe- Southeast Asia, involving the use of European artists’ cific materials analysis when possible. Results were also materials. reviewed in the context of the supply of artists’ materi- The practice of painting on stretched canvas in als and art training opportunities, proposing that they Southeast Asia reflects the development of colonisation provided the conditions for the transfer of ‘Western’ oil in the region. Early extant examples in the Philippines painting practice. Conclusions outlined in this paper date from the early 1800s (Fig.1), in Thailand from 1856, pertain to the range of materials and techniques available in the City of Singapore (Fig. 2)1 and Malaya (Fig. 3)2 from for assessment, and are made within these parameters the nineteenth century. Today there are vast collections and the limitations of the techniques employed. 161 NICOLE TSE AND ROBYN SLOGGETT Figure 1 Fernando Amorsolo, Cooking Rice (1959), oil on canvas, 412 × 560 mm, J.B. Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines, acc. no. UPVM-III.00067. Figure 2 Georgette Chen, Vegetables and Claypot (1940), oil on Figure 3 Yong Mun Sen, The Goose Lady (1940), oil on canvas board canvas, 729 × 597 mm, Singapore, National Heritage Board, acc. no. (marouflaged?), 532 × 455mm, National Art Gallery, Malaysia, acc. no. P-0803. 1990.17. 162 SOUTHEAST ASIAN OIL PAINTINGS Background and early history practice in Malaya was largely established by the Chinese community whose training was a Chinese technical In Modern Asian Art, Clark (1998: 12–13) argues that discourse assimilated from the French (Piyadasa 1979: geographical location directly influenced the assimilation 24–6). It was this influence that led to the establishment of canvas painting practice to Asia. In the Philippines, of the City of Singapore’s first art academy, the Nanyang Western art materials and techniques were introduced by Academy of Fine Arts in 1938 (Piyadasa 1979: 6). the Spanish missionaries (Pilar 1994: 63). By the seven- Paintings in the region were produced in an inter- teenth century, the Augustine missionaries had provided national context. As can be seen, the above artists had drawing classes to the Chinese mestizo3 community in access to pictorial examples and skills from European Manila. In Thailand, there are accounts of English and ‘imperial’ powers and the Chinese. As Clark also suggests, French ‘imperialists’ bearing ‘Western’ paintings as gifts the establishment of local art academies in Asia facilitated in 1680, which almost two centuries later influenced the the ‘cultural transfer’ of canvas painting practice; these work of the Thai muralist Khrua In Khong in the 1850s are detailed in Table 1 (Clark 1998: 49). (Clark 1998: 42). Following Khrua In Khong’s assimilation of Western motifs in the iconography of his works, the royal Thai court took control of the patronage of ‘Western’ cultural practices and commissioned Italian Research methods artists as part of the country’s agenda to control foreign influences (Poshyananda 1992). Two centuries later the From 2003 to 2005, 208 paintings were examined from British colonists in the nineteenth century commissioned the four national collections in Southeast Asia. The case official portraits and landscapes in the City of Singapore studies included 62 works from the Heritage Conservation and Malaya (Hsu 1999: 64). Despite British patronage, art Centre in Singapore, 53 works from the National Art Table 1 Art schools in Malaya, the Philippines, City of Singapore and Thailand from 1815 to 1952. Country Date School Director or established by Academic model Manila, 1821 Private art school Damian Domingo Spanish missionary, self-taught(?), locally Philippines trained mestizo artist Manila, 1823–1834 Academia del Dubujo (Academy of Sociedad Económica de Amigos Self-taught (?), locally trained artists Philippines Drawing) under Domingo del Pais and Damian Domingo Manila, 1850 Academia de Dibujo y Pintura Agustin Saez Granadell Academia de San Fernando in Madrid Philippines Don Lorenzo Rocha Manila, 1908 School of Fine Arts at the Don Raphael Enriquez Based on the Academie de Dibujo y Pintura Philippines University of the Philippines Fabian de la Rosa principles, Manila, Philippines (UPSFA), later changed to the UP Ferdinand Amorsolo College of Fine Arts Bangkok, 1913 Rongrian Poh-Chang (School of King Rama VI Italian academic Thailand Arts and Crafts) Bangkok, 1934 Praneet Silpakum School (School Silpa Bhirasri (Corrado Feroci) Italian academic: Florence Thailand of Fine Arts) Thai Royal Monarchy (National Committee for Organizing the Celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne 1996: 32) Bangkok, 1943 Silpakorn University Silpa Bhirasri (Corrado Feroci) Italian academic Thailand Singapore 1938 Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Lim Hak Tai Xiamen Academy of Art, Shanghai (NAFA) Academy, Chinese practice assimilated from French academic discourses (Piyadasa 1979: 24, 26) Art Superintendent of High Richard Walker British (watercolours) Schools Kuala 1935 Societe des Artistes Chinois (The Chinese assimilated from French practices Lumpur Society of Chinese Artists) (Hsu 1999 113) 1952 Wednesday Art Group Peter Harris British (Tan Chee Khuan 2001:3; P. Harris, pers. comm. 11 October 2004) 163 NICOLE TSE AND ROBYN SLOGGETT Gallery in Malaysia, 61 works from the J.B. Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines, and 33 works from the National Gallery, Bangkok. The study focused on oil paintings on canvas from c.1900 to 1965, although some on rigid supports were assessed to provide additional context. Information was collated on a Filemaker Pro 5.5v2 relational database, which standardised the data into searchable fields. Additional materials analysis depended on the resources available in each institution, and some sample material was removed for analysis at CCMC. Techniques included fibre identification under a stereomicroscope, staining of cross-sections to identify protein size layers (Martin 1977), and polarising light microscopy and microchemical tests to aid in the identification of ground Figure 4 Example of a Fernando Amorsolo stretcher, identified on Portrait layers (Plesters 1956). As sampling from every work was of Nena Gabaldon (1955), oil on canvas, 1313 × 1109 mm, J.B. Vargas not possible, there is variation in the information across Museum, University of the Philippines, acc. no. UPVMA-III.00037. the survey group. Visual, classificatory and analyti- cal assessment was supported and contextualised with literature reviews and interviews. Interviews formed (1892–1972), whose stretchers appear to be locally con- an important part of the methodology as little written structed. His stretchers, representing

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