637 - Otto Carus, Palace of the Dutch East Indies at the Paris World Exhibition of 1889 or 1900, watercolour in original frame

Otto Carus, Palace of the Dutch East Indies at the Paris World Exhibition of 1889 or 1900, watercolour in original frame Otto Carus, 1862-1945, German architect, professor at the Ducal School of Building Trades and Crafts in Gotha from 1892, here: Palace of the Dutch East Indies, Paris World’s Fair 1889 or 1900, watercolour, 38 x 22 cm, signed on the right, beneath an old passepartout in a 19th-century frame. 1. At the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, the representation of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) was one of the most spectacular crowd-pullers of the entire exhibition. Although the Dutch government boycotted official participation in the World’s Fair for political reasons, private initiatives and colonial officials organised a deeply impressive display. The ‘Kampong Javanais’ (The Javanese Village)At the end of the Esplanade des Invalides, an entire Javanese village (kampong) was faithfully recreated in detail using bamboo and traditional local materials. Striking religious structures were also reproduced on a small scale, including a model of the famous Javanese temple, Candi Sari. 2. Historically speaking, the most spectacular ‘palace’ from the Indonesian archipelago was on display at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900. At that time, the country was still represented as a colony under the name of the Dutch East Indies. A monumental hybrid replica of Indonesian temple and palace architecture (with particular Javanese influences) was erected for the exhibition. This pavilion was one of the most photographed examples of ethnic grandeur at the Belle Époque exhibition of that time.