Reconstructing Bouguereau in Indonesia: Technical deconstruction through reconstructive practice in cross-cultural art education

Nadiyah Tunnikmah; Setyo Priyo Nugroho; Itsnataini Rahmadillah

doi:10.21834/e-bpj.v10iSI39.7679

Authors

Nadiyah Tunnikmah Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Setyo Priyo Nugroho Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Itsnataini Rahmadillah Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v10iSI39.7679

Keywords:

Practice-based research, reconstruction, deconstruction, pedagogy

Abstract

This practice-based research explores the reconstruction of Bouguereau’s academic painting technique (Head of a Young Girl, 1898) within Indonesian studio conditions. Rather than replication, reconstruction serves as technical deconstruction, exposing cultural assumptions embedded within supposedly universal artistic methods. Through systematic documentation of material adaptations, environmental modifications, and anatomical translations required for Indonesian contexts, this research reveals how artistic knowledge transforms through cross-cultural transmission. Conducted in Yogyakarta’s hybrid art education system, the research findings contribute to cross-cultural art education and the theoretical understanding of how artistic techniques function as culturally situated knowledge systems rather than neutral technical skills.

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