Hip! Hip! Hero!
Portrait of Joko 'Gundul' Sulistiono (up) and Priyaris Munandar. By Kuss Indarto Every hero becomes a bore at last. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) [one] So much has been depicted in visual narratives about heroes and heroism on the canvases of the artists of the world. Including the artists in Indonesia. From the masters of the modern art movements to what is called contemporary in Indonesia, the public has become familiar with this theme. One of the “classic” works of a phenomenal nature is the painting “The Arrest of Dipanegara” (112 x 178 cm), the work of Raden Saleh Syarief Bustaman. This painting, made in 1857, was done in response to as well as an anti-thesis of the work of a Dutch artist, Nicolaas Pieneman (1809-1860), that was done twenty seven years previously, in 1830, titled “The Submission of Diepo Negoro to Lt. Gen. H.M. de Kock, 28 March 1830 (75 x 98 cm). Apart from the assumption that Raden Saleh’s painting was considered to be in “defense of th...