R.A. Soenarto, D.D.N., G.S., Regent van Grobogan en Raden Ajde 1910 - 1928

This is a portrait, probably from the early 20th century, of Javanese royalty, rendered in black and white photographs with hand-painted embellishments. It’s interesting, isn’t it, how the stark formality of the photographs is softened by the whimsical foliage painted around them? The anonymous artist, maybe a local craftsperson, took these stiff portraits and made them personal. Look at the way the green seeps into the frame, almost like nature reclaiming these figures. It reminds me of Henri Rousseau, that self-taught painter who also reveled in depicting lush, imagined landscapes. There's a tension here between the official and the intimate, the posed and the organic. It's a conversation between cultures, between representation and decoration, that gives the work its unique charm. Art is so often about these kinds of unexpected combinations, isn't it?