On our latest (4th) trip to Yogyakarta, we visited our favorite art gallery – Imam Gallery. Yesterday I told you about the lengths we went to find this particular gallery which compared to many other galleries has a wide variety of paintings. The second time around, despite having the exact name and address, finding it still provided tricky. =P But again totally worth it!

After asking around we finally found the tiny alley we turn into from the main street and saw the familiar pink wall to our right. There is no sign for this gallery, however these are the signs to look out for right outside the green gate.

We scoured the paintings one by one and each time we find something interesting, the proprietor props them up by the entrance like below. Once we’ve seen everything, we then gather in the center and mull over our options. At the same time this is the time to bargain. It’s better to go with a group of people because if you buy a lot as a group you can bargain for better prices. Especially if you are getting several pieces from the same painter.

We chose a bigger painting so we got only one painting this time. I think we were able to bargain it down from IDR 4M to 2.2M. The painter, also named Imam, is supposedly as established as Sutrisno.

They carefully remove the paintings from the frame and roll it. Normally frames are free, but many tourists do not bring them because it’s hard to bring on the plane without damaging it. But cheapo that I am, I always request for the frame wrapped in newspaper for check-in. When I get home I staple the painting back on to the same frame.

I also took pictures of paintings with nature and scenery as subjects for our friend S.

Till the next time we meet again Imam Gallery… farewell!

Imam Gallery

Ngadinegaran, MJ III/126, Jogjakarta 55143, Indonesia
(0274) 384240
imam_gallery@yahoo.com