Dutch East Indies - Art and Culture

Art and Culture

The natural beauty of East Indies has inspired the works of artist and painters, that mostly capture the romantic scenes of colonial Indies. The term Mooi Indie (Dutch for "Beautiful Indies") was originally coined as the title of eleven reproductions of Du Chattel's watercolor paintings depicted the scene of East Indies published in Amsterdam in 1930. The term became famous in 1939 after S. Sudjojono use it to mocked the painters that merely depict all pretty things about Indies. Mooi Indie later would identified as the genre of painting occurred during colonial East Indies that capture the romantic depictions of the Indies as the main theme; mostly natural scene of mountain, volcano, rice paddy, river valley, village, with scene of natives servants, nobles, and sometimes bare-chested native women. Some of notable Mooi Indie painters are European artists: F.J. du Chattel, Manus Bauer, Nieuwkamp, Isaac Israel, PAJ Moojen, Carel Dake and Romualdo Locatelli; East Indies-born Dutch painters: Henry van Velthuijzen, Charles Sayers, Ernest Dezene, Leonard Eland and Jan Frank; Native painters: Raden Saleh, Mas Pirngadi, Abdullah Surisubroto, Wakidi, Basuki Abdullah, Mas Soeryo Soebanto and Henk Ngantunk; and also Chinese painters: Lee Man Fong, Oei Tiang Oen and Biau Tik Kwie. These painters usually exhibit their works in art galleries such as Bataviasche Kuntkringgebouw, Theosofie Vereeniging, Kunstzaal Kolff & Co and Hotel Des Indes.

Theatre plays by playwrights such as Victor Ido (1869–1948) were performed at the Shouwburg Weltevreden, now known as Gedung Kesenian Jakarta. A less elite form of theatre, popular with both European and indigenous people, were the traveling Indo theatre shows known as Komedie Stamboel, made popular by Auguste Mahieu (1865–1903).