Srihadi Sudarsono’s Bedoyo ketawang: The sacred court dance (Lot 36) is a sprawling composition depicting five court dancers draped in red and black, who appear to be waiting in anticipation of their performance. Sudarsono’s expressive style and traditional Javanese subject matter provides insight not only into the cultural landscape of modern Indonesian art but also into the socio-political atmosphere of 20th century Indonesia. The bedoyo is a significant part of Javanese culture and a quintessential aspect of the royal court, with records of the dance dating back to as early as the Majapahit Empire.
Brimming with spiritual meaning, Sudarsono captures the qualities required of the Bedoyo performers to meditate every step and gesture both physically and spiritually. Reserved exclusively for major court festivities or the coronation of the sultan’s birthday, the Bedhoyo Ketawang is performed to gamelan music and embraces a slow, solemn style. It shares the celebrated legend of the meeting between Panembahan Senopati, the first ruler of the Mataram Kingdom II (1584–1601) with Kanjeng Ratu Kidul, the powerful and beautiful goddess-the Queen of South Sea. Encompassing a cast of nine dancers, Bedhoyo encompasses awe-inspiring geometric formations that change almost effortlessly to the subtle rhythm of the gamelan music. These dancers would eventually begin a stylized battle with their wavy-bladed krises during the climax of the performance. Epitomizing a meditator’s highest achievement by the closing of the nine human orifices, the bedoyo dance is deeply rooted in ancient cosmology.
Sudarsono’s work is a captivating blend of traditional Javanese culture and Western artistic tradition. After studying at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Sudarsono pursued further education in the US, covering an array of artistic styles, from realism to cubism and abstract expressionism. However, upon his return to Indonesia, Sudarsono returned to his roots and began to use rasa as one of his largest influences. Rasa can be defined as “the Javanese empathic mode of behavior”[1] with an emphasis on intuition and the intangible. The artist said: “what you see in my painting is not a physical impression but rather a manifestation of the spiritual essence of the subject.”
What is immediately striking about the composition is the distinctive sense of rhythm. Dance is a favored theme, which Sudarsono revisits throughout his life and opus. In the present composition, the dancers are captured moments before their performance, as they await their dance with bated breath. Sudarsono captures this tangible moment of stillness before the imminent performance through the different postures of the dancers. The artist skillfully shares the personality of each dancer through subtle differences in their poses. Two appear to be in conversation with one another, while another slightly tilts her body to get a better view of what is up ahead. Pinned to the back of each dancer’s hair is a string of white flowers that stream across her shoulders, further enhancing her feminine quality. Srihadi’s dexterity is seen in the way he populates the dark, emerald green background with variated shades and broad animated strokes. He enlivens the negative space behind the performers, suggesting the subtle shifts in the routine.
One of the largest works by Sudarsono to surface in the market, Bedoyo ketawang: the sacred court dance impressively reveals the rich heritage of Javanese dance and speaks of the artist’s adoration for his culture and nation. The Javanese concept of rasa shines through to create a moment of intangible beauty, capturing the essence of bedoyo and the royal courts. Bedoyo ketawang: The sacred court dance celebrates the artistic philosophies of the titular dance, linking the non-verbal, esoteric concepts of beauty and strength, by showing the bedoyo as a kind of meditation and spiritual transcendence.
[1] Jean, Couteau, The Path of the Soul, A Picture Gallery, Lontar Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2003, 73
《貝多優克達望：宮廷舞者》(拍品編號 36) 用橫向構圖展示五名宮廷舞者的婀娜身姿，她們身穿紅、黑二色的長裙，正在等待出場。蘇達索諾情感充沛的表現方式和傳統的爪哇題材不但讓觀眾得以窺探現代印尼的藝術文化面貌，還能從中了解這個國家在二十世紀的社會政治氣氛。標題裡的「貝多優」是一種舞蹈，最早的記錄可追溯至滿者伯夷國時期，它是皇宮生活的典型體現，更是爪哇文化的重要組成部分。
貝多優舞者的一舉手一投足都神聖莊嚴、別具深意，蘇達索諾的作品飽含靈性內涵，完美地捕捉了舞者的肢體動作和內在精神特質。「貝多優克達望」只會留待重大宮廷儀典或蘇丹壽辰之時，才隆重其事地舉行，舞蹈以甘美朗樂曲伴奏，風格和緩莊重。舞蹈講述了馬打蘭蘇丹國（1584–1601）的開國君主 Panembahan Senopati 遇見美麗、強大的南海女神 Kanjeng Ratu Kidul 的故事。這是一種九人舞蹈，隊列變化多端，在甘美朗含蓄的旋律下流暢轉換。舞者最後手持蛇形匕首，進行一場形式上的戰鬥，把表演推向高潮。貝多優與古代的世界觀嚴密契合，九人舞蹈象徵人體九竅的閉合，隔絕外界煩擾，達致冥想的最高境界。
蘇達索諾的作品糅合了爪哇傳統文化和西方藝術道統。他從萬隆技術學院（ITB）畢業後便遠赴美國深造，嘗試過寫實主義、立體主義及抽象表現主義等不同風格。然而返回印尼後，他有如落葉歸根般，開始將「rasa」作為重要的靈感來源。「rasa」一字可簡單定義為「爪哇式的共情行為」1，特別強調直覺與形而上的感受。蘇達索諾解釋道：「你從我的作品中看到的不是物象的描繪，而是其精神靈性核心的表態。」
本作最吸引人的地方在於構圖的獨特韻律。舞蹈是蘇達索諾偏好的題材，時常在他的創作中出現。本作刻畫了出場前屏息以待的舞者，蘇達索諾透過她們的姿態，把演出前肅靜的一刻定格在畫布上。每名舞者的動作都稍有不同，這種細微的差異巧妙地反映了各人的性格。其中兩人似乎在悄聲低語，另外一人輕輕探出身子打量前方。舞者的髮髻上固定著一條長長的白花，斜搭肩頭，搖曳娉婷，襯托出女性清麗脫俗的氣質。深邃的祖母綠背景中夾雜了明暗交織的寬闊筆觸，藝術家嫻熟靈巧的畫工修為表現得淋漓盡致。高超的造詣令舞者身後的空間煥發生機，並且暗示了貝多優舞蹈中生生不息的隊列變化。
這幅《貝多優克達望：宮廷舞者》屬於市場上較為大幅的蘇達索諾作品，它側寫了爪哇舞蹈的多重面向，同時承載著藝術家對自身國族文化的熱愛。畫中的每一筆每一劃都蘊含了爪哇的「rasa」概念，最後凝聚成凸顯無形之美的一刻，揭示了貝多優與宮廷生活的深厚底蘊。蘇達索諾以別樹一格的表現手法，把貝多優舞蹈昇華至冥想和靈性的超脫，無法用語言傳達的美和力量的堂奧在此相連互通，折射出貝多優舞蹈背後的璀璨哲思。