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Version devBuilt at: 2026-10-16 08:00:47 EDT

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@mdstamper.bsky.socialOct 15, 2026, 2:15 PM

“Lady with Kebaya” by Basoeki Abdullah (Indonesian) – Oil on canvas / 1959 – ILHAM Foundation Collection (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) #WomenInArt #BasoekiAbdullah #Abdullah #ILHAMGallery #art #artText #arte #ILHAM #IndonesianArt #IndonesianArtist #Kebaya #1950sArt #PortraitofaWoman

Kartini Manoppo is depicted by Indonesian artist Basoeki Abdullah with the polished presence that made the painter one of Southeast Asia’s most sought-after portraitists. She meets us with a steady gaze, her face emerging from softly blended greens and blues. A luminous purple-pink kebaya spreads across her shoulders beneath a darker translucent crimson shawl, while earrings, a large ring, and a gold necklace catch points of light. Abdullah’s smooth realism concentrates attention on her eyes, skin, and carefully arranged clothing as almost everything else dissolves into atmosphere. Manoppo was more than an anonymous model. Born into a prominent family in North Sulawesi, she worked as a model and as a flight attendant for Garuda Indonesia. Her kebaya adds another layer. Worn in different forms across Indonesia and neighboring Southeast Asia, it could signify femininity, refinement, heritage, and national identity. Abdullah was trained at the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague, and famous for highly finished society portraits before this portrait entered political history. President Sukarno saw the painting at Abdullah’s 1959 exhibition and renewed his interest in Manoppo who he had met at Garuda. Later that year, Manoppo and Sukarno married privately. She became one of the wives of Indonesia’s first president, a relationship that continued into the final years of his rule. That extraordinary aftermath changes how we see the painting, but it should not reduce Manoppo to just a woman Sukarno desired. Before presidential history claimed her story, Abdullah pictured a working Indonesian woman whose modern career and traditional dress coexist without contradiction. She occupies nearly the whole canvas, composed and self-possessed. “Lady with Kebaya” is more than a society portrait as modernity, tradition, beauty, celebrity, and political power converge in a painted likeness that helped redirect the life of the woman it represents.
@patrickkapty.bsky.socialSep 19, 2026, 1:07 PM

Stringed Figure (Curlew) (Version I)
brass, string, wood base
c. 1956
Barbara Hepworth
UK

#handmade ##art #sculpture #modernsculpture #BarbaraHepworth #stringedfigure #curlew #versionI
#c1956 #BritishModern #UK #BritishSculpture #modernart #abstract #brass #fishermanstring #wood #base #1950sart

Stringed Figure (Curlew) (Version I), created in 1956 by the renowned British sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth. Crafted from brass and tensioned string mounted on an original wooden base. Barbara Hepworth created Stringed Figure (Curlew) (Version I), the larger precursor to Stringed Figure (Curlew) (Marquette), in her studio in St. Ives in 1956. This magnificent sculpture marks a short but meaningful period in the artist’s oeuvre. In the 1950s, Hepworth began to explore the sculptural medium of sheet metal. This medium brought greater freedom than bronze or wood; it allowed for more exaggerated and parabolic curves to be created with ease. The use of new materials is partly explained due to the demand for her work. Working in a more malleable and new material not only allowed the artist to create the work in time to meet the demand but also allowed her to expand her expertise in a new direction. Moreover, there are three works in total that have this same title, as well as this same technique which was used to develop other commissions such as the Orpheus (Maquette 2) (Version II) , further demonstrating not only her continuous artistic evolution but also her commercial success. Aside from the brass, Hepworth also used cotton fisherman’s string, which she acquired locally. Hepworth always had a deep appreciation for St. Ives and it seems natural that the love she felt for the town was extended into her artworks. Parallels can be drawn with the work of other artists from the time such as Lynn Chadwick’s Stabile with Mobile Element 1951). At the time Chadwick was also exploring the varying possibilities of balance, contour, and form that could be developed using sheet metal. Stringed Figure (Curlew) (Version I) conveys a rhythmic quality of movement - similar to that of a bird mid-flight - and explores shape and space in a formal yet innovative way.