The Fallen Matador

Provenance

1. Sudjana Kerton Gallery, Bandung — the family’s studio-gallery — until 1997.
2. 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

From Kerton’s year in Mexico, where he followed Affandi to study mural painting (Amir Sidharta, The Jakarta Post, 13 February 1997). No. 10 in the list of the stolen works published in The Jakarta Post, 13 February 1997: “The Fallen Matador”, 1963, 59 × 89 cm. Estate caption (kertonart.com gallery): “1963, Mexico / Oil on canvas / 59 cm x 89 cm”. Dimensions follow the caption’s order; height and width are unconfirmed.