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Located in the centre of Phuket's
banking district, even the building that houses the gallery is interesting.
Representing Phuket's
first true urban renewal project, it has been beautifully converted
from two century-old Sino-Portuguese shop houses. Tourists that
come to see the museum objects that define oriental culture, home
builders that seek a definitive work of art to complete the character
of their home and the curious who just want to have a look are treated
to a constantly changing display of new exhibits.
Gallery owner Eric Smulders van Heer Janspoler comes from a Dutch
industrial family. He studied advanced management at Harvard University
and originally came to Asia as an economist with Shell Oil posted
to Japan. After 15 years in Japan, Mr. Smulders moved to Hong
Kong and a position as Managing Director for Cartier. Two years
later, he moved on to found a small food importing company, which
has since grown to be the biggest, leading food importer for Hong
Kong and China. Eventually retiring from business, Eric opened an
art gallery of Master Paintings in Hong Kong - the largest in Asia.
In 1995, he sold his interests in Hong Kong and moved to Phuket
to pursue his hobbies of scuba
diving and game fishing along with his life-long interest in
art.
"I have remained in Asia because here you have access both
to the people and to the culture. Asian culture is richly complex,
as expressed in their art forms and all art attracts me, "explains
Eric.
Having a gallery requires a great deal of travel in search of art.
Most items on display have been acquired within the past ten months,
and are testimony to thousands of kilometres of travel over the
length and breadth of the orient. "A gallery is a wonderful
occupation. "
Eric grew up in an atmosphere of art appreciation, with frequent
discussions around the table. His father was an avid collector of
Dutch Masters and frequently visited Sotheby's and Christies
auction houses, expanding the family's already renowned collection.
The
hobby of collecting great art has been carried through four generations
of connoisseurs.
"I call my gallery the 'Soul of Asia' because it
represents the heart of Asian culture. "Paintings, photography,
ceramics, woodcarvings and religious artifacts are featured in the
collection. "I want to demonstrate that styles can be mixed.
What is here is what I would buy for myself. "Indeed, Eric
often exchanges the art in his home with selections from the gallery.
The religious artifacts are especially representative of Asian culture.
"With their sense of beauty, they radiate peace and harmony
which is the basis of Asian culture. "Mr. Smulders is a licensed
dealer in religious artifacts. Out of respect for the sensitivity
of Thai Buddhists he doesn't sell Thai Buddha images. Instead,
he purchases from neighbouring Burma and Cambodia through Thai dealers,
observing the restrictions in place for tracking art theft and controlling
national treasures. The Buddhist artifacts, some of which are very
large, are respectfully displayed.
Along with an amazing collection of signed limited editions from
the masters Chagal, Corneille, Dali, Picasso, pop artists Walasse
Ting and Andy Warhol, there is a cross section of modern Asian painters.
Thai artists are tremendous craftsmen and copy brilliantly but have
no tradition of decorative paintings and are seen to lack originality,
as displayed in the small local art galleries which cater to the
mainly tourist market. Mr. Smulders seeks to change that view with
remarkable native works.
Vietnamese on the other hand have quite a long history of painting
inherited from the French and quite a number of Vietnamese painters
are featured in the gallery. Uniquely Vietnamese is a very old tradition
of lacquer paintings. Great depth of dimension and tremendously
rich colors are achieved by the multi-layering technique of this
unusual medium. Both traditional religious subjects and
contemporary works can be seen.
Scattered around the gallery is the occasional pillar wrapping
temple rug and a few Mongolian carpets, which they stopped making
when machines arrived in 1930. Rescued from yurts, they have been
repaired using old thread. Lacquer cabinets from northern China
refinished in Beijing, date between 90 and 120 years old. Lovely
jadeite carvings that would have originally been inlayed in furniture
are finding a new life as presentation platters for dining service.
There is quite an extensive silver collection. Beautifully designed
tribal jewelry, with one unique piece made of tools, pure silver
boxes of Cambodian design and 120-year-old traditional Chinese boxes
containing a blessing for good fortune are among the acquisitions.
I could go on and on but it's better to just go and see. Everyone
is welcome. There are a huge variety of items elegantly displayed
throughout the gallery. Says Eric, "I want to build the most diverse
gallery in Thailand.
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