Li Shuji and Me

Last week I received a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. With some reluctance I picked up the call. It was an elderly man and he asked for me by name. He asked me if I remembered buying a painting by Li Shuji from him some 13 years ago and if I still had it.

I immediately remembered him and the occasion I bought the piece.

I have always liked works by Li Shuji after seeing his works at my Indonesian clients’ office in 2003. His works are large, colourful and the characters he portrays are full of life and appear realistic. I remember spending so much time looking at his artworks in their office. He is one of the top Indonesian artists and very well regarded. But for some reason he is not popular and I could never find his works at any auction or gallery. Until 2011 or 2012.

I found out that there was a gallery in Liang Court having an exhibition of Li Shuji’s works and the artist would be present there as well.

I visited the exhibition, met the gallery owner and the artist. Unfortunately the artist couldn’t speak English so I couldn’t communicate with him. There were fifteen or so paintings there that day, I picked one of the largest pieces which was very colourful and it portrayed a group of women carrying offerings and walking. Such a beautiful and realistic piece.

I ended up buying that piece, a big one, for $60k. I took pictures with the artist that day. I finally had my own Li Shuji.

Just as an unfortunate aside, after that I went down to the basement of Liang Court to have a meal and I lost my phone together with all the photos I took. That was in the era before they had cloud storage.

The painting went straight from his gallery to my storage and it has remained there ever since and I have never seen it since that day. It is a big piece and I could never find a place where I could show off the piece. Such a pity.

So when Johnny from the Dynasties Antiques and Art Gallery called to ask if I still had the piece with me I was curious why he was calling me after all these years. He told me that someone had visited his gallery and saw that piece in a catalogue and asked for it. I immediately arranged to visit Johnny last Friday.

The gallery is now at Tradehub21. He moved out of Liang Court towards the end of 2012.

His gallery has so many art pieces and catalogues. I have never seen so many art pieces at a single gallery before. Most of them are stacked up and stored away. I was blown away by the variety of artists and art pieces he has. And these pieces are not even on consignment. He has purchased all of them.

I spent a couple of hours talking to him and looking at his artworks. I have arranged to see him again this coming Sunday.

To sell or not to sell? Should I continue keeping it? But why, when I have not even seen or enjoyed the piece even once. I think if it will be seen and enjoyed by others, then it deserves a new owner who will show it to the world.