Global Auction Presents 160 Masterpieces This July 2025

Global Auction is thrilled to announce its return this July with an exciting auction featuring 160 curated artworks. This event celebrates the vibrant spirit of Southeast Asian, Chinese, Modern, and Contemporary art. The auction will run from July 10 to August 2, 2025, concluding in a live online auction on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at 3 PM (UTC+7).

More than just an auction, this is an opportunity to engage with the powerful stories, iconic artists, and beautiful moments that have shaped cultural landscapes across generations. Selected works will be available for in-person viewing at Global Auction's offices in Jakarta and Singapore, with specific pieces displayed at each location.

Auction Highlights

Lee Man Fong

Lee Man Fong (1913–1988) was a masterful painter known for blending Chinese and Western styles with grace. Born in Guangzhou and raised in Singapore, he eventually settled in Jakarta, earning recognition as the first non-Dutch artist to exhibit with the Dutch East Indies Association. His work was shaped by his time in Europe and his role as palace artist for President Sukarno.

This auction features two of his works. Buffalo Herder captures the quiet harmony of rural life through a boy leading a buffalo along a misty path, painted with fluid lines and soft tones. Lilies and Apples showcases his refined still life technique, with gentle brushwork and a balanced arrangement of lilies, a glass vase, and apples.

**Lot: 004**
**Lee Man Fong Lilies and Apples, 1940**
Oil on canvas: 100 x 70 cm
Signed and dated, lower right: MF. Lee 1940

Hendra Gunawan

Hendra Gunawan (1918–1983) was a pioneering artist whose bold colors and expressive style celebrated the lives of everyday Indonesians. Active since the 1930s, he joined Poetera during the Japanese occupation and later co-founded Pelukis Front, capturing scenes of struggle and resilience.

Despite years of imprisonment, he continued to paint, leaving behind a powerful legacy seen in major museums and, recently, at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Three Women and Flowers shows his signature vibrancy, portraying three women in a coastal setting with baskets of flowers. Their warmth and energy reflect Hendra’s deep connection to the people he painted.

Roland Strasser

Austrian-born Roland Strasser (1895–1974) was an artist, writer, and adventurer known for his vivid portraits and extensive travels across Asia and North Africa. Trained in Vienna and Munich, he journeyed through remote regions—China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Tibet, and more—long before modern tourism reached them. In 1929, he spent a year in Kyoto, capturing kabuki performers, sumo wrestlers, and geishas, often drawing curious crowds as he painted on location.

Geisha is a striking example of Strasser’s portraiture, blending classical European technique with cultural sensitivity. The young woman is shown in traditional attire with golden kanzashi in her hair, set against an expressive, dreamlike background. Strasser’s fluid brushwork and bold color convey both grace and magnetism.

S. Sudjojono

Sindudarsono Sudjojono (1913–1986), known as S. Sudjojono, was a foundational figure in modern Indonesian art. As a painter, writer, and critic, he helped shape the country's artistic identity in the 1930s and 1940s, co-founding influential groups like Persagi and Seniman Indonesia Muda. Committed to social realism, he depicted everyday life with honesty, empathy, and a deep awareness of Indonesia’s changing society.

This auction features two of his works. Face (1971) offers a thoughtful portrait of a man, with textured brushstrokes and a warm palette that give life and depth to the figure. His direct gaze and subtle expression reflect Sudjojono’s ability to capture the emotional presence of his subjects.

**Lot: 011**
**S. Sudjojono Rino’s Son is Reading (Anak Laki-laki Rino Ngaji), 1969**
Oil on canvas: 95 x 60 cm
Signed and dated, lower right: SS. 101. DJak 1969
Signed, lower left: S. Sudjojono

In Rino’s Son is Reading, he paints a tender moment of his son, Rino, studying before an exam. Completed in just ninety minutes in his studio, the work is full of personal touches—from the sarong to the borrowed cap—and reveals Sudjojono’s sensitivity to everyday scenes and the meaning behind them.