The Price Gaze

Deni Junaedi, The Price Gaze (Arah Tatap Sang Pangeran), 2007, oil and acrilic on canvas, 200 x 77 cm, Sustyo Iriono

In The Price Gaze (2007) I unite Raden Saleh’s and Nicolaas Pieneman’s paintings horizontally. Pineman, Belgian artist who lived in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial era, created The Submission of Diponegoro (1852) painting as a documentation of Price Diponegoro, an Indonesian hero fighting against the Dutch, when he was arrested. Saleh, the first Indonesian modern artist who was granted by the Dutch to study in Nederland in 1823, created the Arrest of Prince Diponegoro (1857) that was considered by a researcher to be a correction of the Pieneman’s painting. Firstly, in Pieneman, the word ‘submission’ tends to lead into the ‘surrender’, ‘subjection’ , or ‘obedience’ (the expression of Diponegoro’s powerless), meanwhile in Saleh’s it is more on the word ‘arrest’ that showed a more patriotic side. Besides, there was clearly stated the word ‘Price’ or ‘Javanese Leader’ (to show his honor) as a title of his work. Secondly, the bodys’ proportion or anatomy (especially the Netherlander soldier) in Saleh’s painting looked shorter. It is the metaphor to mock the colonial government power. Thirdly, it is the aspect of Prince Diponegoro’s placement in the space. There was a difference in figures placement, especially Price Diponegoro in both paintings by Saleh and Pieneman, including the main figure’s direction and gesture.

In my painting, The Price Gaze (2007), I bring out a new innovation by uniting them. I was found Prince Diponegoro’s effort was not enough if he only used it to challenge a lieutenant general (Marcus de Kock). With the existing gesture in Raden Saleh’s, Diponegoro challenged something higher, the symbol of power: The Netherlands flag. This was used by Saleh, also to challenge Pieneman’s arrogance in the Submission of Diponegoro (1852) which places its Diponegoro right under the Netherlands flag.

Raden Saleh, Penangkapan Pangeran Diponegoro, 1857

Nicolas Pieneman,The Submission of Diponegoro

Sebenarnya apa yang dipandang Pangeran Diponegoro dalam lukisan Raden Saleh Penangkapan Pangeran Diponegoro? Tatapan Pimpinan Perang di Jawa yang ditangkap di Magelang 28 Maret 1830 itu jelas menyiratkan semangat nasionalisme pantang menyerah. Tapi tatapan itu tidak cukup jika hanya dibayar sosok Letnan Jendral Hendrik Merkus de Kock, meskipun Panglima Militer Belanda itu tepat berdiri di hadapnya. Pangeran Diponegoro sama-sekali tidak melihat figur yang telah dikerdilkan Raden Saleh ini.

Meskipun dibayangi kontroversi atas pemaknaan lukisan Raden Saleh yang dibuat tahun 1857 ini jika dikomparasi dengan karya Nicolas Pieneman The Submission of Diponegoro (misalnya antara Jim Supangkat dengan Agus Dermawan T.), namun saya tetap mencoba mencari jawaban: apa sebenarnya yang ditatap Diponegoro dan mengapa. Karya Pieneman yang lahir terlebih dahulu saya pasang berhadap-hadapan dengan karya masterpiece Raden Saleh. Hasilnya sungguh mengejutkan...
Ternyata Pangeran Diponegoro tidak cukup jika sekedar menantang seorang Letnan Jendral, ia menantang sesuatu yang lebih tinggi dari itu, simbol kekuasaan: Bendera Belanda! Jika simbol itu yang ditantang berarti perjuangan nasionalismenya tidak akan pernah berakhir, meskipun ia ditangkap dengan licik namun generasi selanjutnya pasti akan melanjutkan perjuangan melawan penjajahan merah-putih-biru.

Cara ini dipakai Raden Saleh sekaligus untuk menantang kesewenang-wenangan Pieneman yang menempatkan Diponegoro-nya (jika dipandang secara linear) tepat di bawah bendera Belanda. Gambaran di atas terlihat jelas jika setelah kita menggabungkan kedua lukisan tersebut lalu menonjolkan ketiga elemen pentingnya: Diponegoroa-nya Raden Saleh, Diponegoro-nya Pieneman, dan Bendera Belanda. Sementara obyek-obyek yang lain dikaburkan.