Abstract

The Hungarian planter László Székely was active as a painter on Sumatra during the first decennia of the 20th century. In 1923 he painted four portraits of people from the plan­ters’ community: The Mandoer, The Moneylender, The Toekang-kebon and The Koelie recruiter, which appeared in the weekly paper De Zweep. In this article I will give an over­view of the cultural life in Deli and place Székely’s work in this context. Further­more, I will explain the uniqueness of Székely’s portraits, using the theory of the English cultural historian Peter Burke.

Highlights

  • The Hungarian planter László Székely was active as a painter on Sumatra during the first decennia of the 20th century

  • In 1923 he painted four portraits of people from the planters’ community: The Mandoer, The Moneylender, The Toekang-kebon and The Koelie recruiter, which appeared in the weekly paper De Zweep

  • De algemene interesse voor kunst in Deli was ondanks de inspanningen van de Delische Kunstkring niet te vergelijken met die in het moederland of elders in Europa

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Summary

Introduction

The Hungarian planter László Székely was active as a painter on Sumatra during the first decennia of the 20th century. De Zweep was een zeer omstreden weekblad, dat vaak beschuldigd was van pornografie en antisemitisme.[1] Op pagina twee van het “Planters-nummer” vond de lezer vier aquarellen met de titel: “Typen uit het Delische kebonleven.” Het waren vier portretten: De Mandoer, De Geldschieter, De Toekang-kebon en De koeliewerver.[2] De schilder van de vier aquarellen was de Hongaarse planter László Székely (1892–1946), die sinds 1914 in Deli verbleef en als assistent op verschillende ondernemingen werkte.

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