Raden Saleh

A century earlier, in 1811, Raden Saleh Sjarif Bastaman, known as Raden Saleh, descended from a ruling Javanese family, was born in Terbaya, near Semarang, on the north coast of the island of Java.

When he was sent to the Dutch College in Jakarta at the age of 10, he was able to join European circles where his artistic talents quickly distinguished him in the eyes of the Belgian painter Antoine Payen, who took him under his wing. The latter sent him to study the art of portraiture and landscapes in the Netherlands in 1829; his first exhibitions took place in The Hague and Amsterdam after studying with Cornelis Kruseman and Andreas Schelfhout for five years.

Raden Saleh was a great admirer of the Romantics, especially Delacroix. He was inspired by them and developed a special reputation for orientalist and exotic subjects, especially hunting scenes.

After travelling all over Europe for six years, he settled in Dresden, where he earned himself a different reputation; in the Netherlands his talent was attributed only to his colonial and European education, whereas he was seen in Germany as a fascinating character.

In 1851, he finally returned to the Dutch East Indies where he became the portrait painter to Java’s aristocratic society. He only came back to Europe once, staying there for three years.

His familiarity with the higher spheres of European society and his talent, especially as a portraitist, earned him the title of Painter to the King from King William III of the Netherlands.

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LE PHO
VU CAO DAM
MAI TRUNG THU
TRAN PHUC DUYEN
ALIX AYMÉ
INGUIMBERTY
INGUIMBERTY
LE VAN DE
LUONG XUAN NHI
NGUYEN GIA TRI
NGUYEN PHAN CHANH
LE THI LUU
NGUYEN NAM SON
TRAN VAN CAN
NGUYEN TIEN-CHUNG
LIN FENGMIAN
SANYU
ZAO WOU KI
CHU TEH-CHUN
WANG YAN CHENG
PAN YULIN
FOUJITA
TOSHIMITSU IMAI
RADEN SALEH

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