Twee tijgers sluipend door het gras 1824 - 1880

Raden Saleh sketched “Two Tigers Creeping Through the Grass” with pen in brown and black, brush in brown, and pencil on paper. Saleh was not only among the first Indonesian artists to study in Europe, but also the first to modernize Indonesian art by blending European romanticism with his Javanese roots. Here, Saleh renders two tigers in a style reminiscent of the romantic, dramatic compositions that were en vogue in Europe. Yet, these are not just tigers; they're Sumatran tigers, native to Indonesia. It's as if Saleh is saying, "I can paint in your style, but I will paint my own reality, my own history." The tigers, rendered with a mix of curiosity and menace, could be interpreted as a symbol of Indonesia's complex relationship with its colonizers. Saleh lived in a time of immense cultural exchange and conflict, and his work embodies this tension. He creates a space where identities and histories can be asserted and celebrated.