Young Javanese dancer , dated 1889

Oil on canvas signed

Monogrammed and inscription "Javanaise" lower left

Inscription "Exposition 1889" lower right

Dimensions: 56 x 38 cm

Paul le Thimonnier  portrays  one of the four dancers sent by Prince Mangkunegara V, from the Palais Royal de Solo, during the Universal Exhibition of 1889 in Paris.

The 1889 exhibition, a major event celebrating the centenary of the French Revolution, was marked by the birth of the most emblematic structure that would become the global symbol of technology: the Eiffel Tower. It is also distinguished by the establishment of a Javanese village in the heart of Paris by the Dutch colonies.

A “Javanese Kampong”, an authentic traditional Java village adorned with trees and bamboo houses on stilts, is born between Trocadéro and Les Invalides; 65 Indonesian villagers, mainly tea or coffee growers on Dutch plantations, reside there. To attract visitors, they play the angklung, an instrument made from bamboo tubes, cook delicious dishes flavored with spices, make colorful batiks with fine and refined patterns.

But the strongest attraction of the Exhibition are the Javanese dances and the traditional music of the gamelans.

Those who move the whole of Paris are the four young dancers aged 12 to 16 sent by Prince Mangkunegara V: Wakiem, Taminah, Sariem and his sister Soekia.

The beauty of their movements, the grace of their hands, the charm of their face, the patterns of their fabrics, the delicacy of their jewelry, overwhelm visitors. They will be a source of inspiration for many writers, poets, journalists, painters, sculptors, architects, choreographers and musicians.

Orientalists, Impressionists and Symbolists marvel at this incarnation of a fantasized elsewhere. Proust and Mallarmé, Gauguin and Mucha, Rodin and Degas, Pissarro and Seurat and then above all Debussy and Ravel are bewitched by the incredible “gurgles” of the gamelans who, through their influence, open the doors to modern music. (Extracts from “lepetitjournal.com of Tuesday, April 20, 2021).