Stolen — Sudjana Kerton Gallery, Bandung, 2 February 1997
One of the nineteen paintings stolen from the family’s gallery in Bandung on 2 February 1997 (The Jakarta Post, 6 and 13 February 1997), and listed by the estate as missing. A recovery is recorded here once the estate confirms it. Information: contact the estate →
Image: The Kerton estate (kertonart.com)
Street Circus
Bandung, 1988
- Catalogue no.
- SK-P0073
- Classification
- Painting
- Place and date
- Bandung, 1988 (as captioned by the estate)
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 66 × 96 cm (as captioned)
- Location
- Whereabouts unknown — stolen from the Sudjana Kerton Gallery, Bandung, 2 February 1997
Basis of entryThe estate’s online gallery listing and caption (kertonart.com) and The Jakarta Post’s 1997 list of the stolen works; not yet examined in person.
Revised 27 Sept 2026
Provenance
- Sudjana Kerton Gallery, Bandung — the family’s studio-gallery — until 1997.
- 1997Stolen from the Sudjana Kerton Gallery, Bandung, on 2 February 1997 (The Jakarta Post, 6 and 13 February 1997); listed by the estate as missing (kertonart.com, “STOLEN WORKS”).
Literature
- “19 paintings stolen from art gallery”, The Jakarta Post, 6 February 1997. The first report of the theft from the Sudjana Kerton Gallery, Bandung: the Bandung police special team, and co-operation with the Jakarta police and Interpol.
- Amir Sidharta, “Stolen paintings reflect Kerton’s career”, The Jakarta Post, 13 February 1997. Reads the stolen works as a survey of his career: Affandi’s 1962 visit and the Mexican year, Sanggar Luhur, and the late village subjects.
- “The list of Sudjana Kerton paintings stolen on Sunday night, Feb. 2, 1997”, The Jakarta Post, 13 February 1997. The nineteen works with their dates and sizes; it agrees with the estate’s captions except for three details, noted on the entries concerned.
- Cornelius Helmy Herlambang, “Rindu Mata dan Ingatan Pelukis Sudjana Kerton untuk Bandung”, Kompas, 22 December 2025. On the Bandoeng Doeloe exhibition at Plataran Bandung, with Tjandra Kerton; dates the 1997 theft to Sunday 2 February and reports that some of the stolen paintings have since come back, though not all have been found.
Notes & sources
No. 17 in the list of the stolen works published in The Jakarta Post, 13 February 1997: “Street Circus”, 1988, 66 × 96 cm. Estate caption (kertonart.com gallery): “1988, Bandung / Oil on canvas / 66 cm x 96 cm”. Dimensions follow the caption’s order; height and width are unconfirmed.
Object history
- 2 February 1997Stolen
Sudjana Kerton Gallery (Sanggar Luhur), Bandung
Catalogued as “Street Circus”, 1988, oil on canvas, 66 x 96 cm
Stolen with eighteen other paintings from the family's gallery; reported to the Bandung police, who worked with the Jakarta police and Interpol. As catalogued here: the list of the stolen works published by The Jakarta Post on 13 February 1997.
Inclusion in this catalogue is a scholarly cataloguing decision. It does not constitute an authentication or a guarantee of authenticity, attribution, or provenance, and the catalogue does not provide valuations.