ERNEST DEZENTJE (1885-1972)
Gunung Kerinci (3,805 m - 12,484 ft)
Indonesia (Sumatra)
The mountain
Guning Kerinci (3,805 m - 12,484 ft) or Peak of Indrapura is a volcano in Sumatra island of Indonesia. It is surrounded by the lush forest of Kerinci Seblat National Park.
Kerinci is one the more active Indonesian volcanoes, with nearly annual phreatic eruptions.
In 2004, Kerinci erupted and continues to spew clouds of sulphurous smoke, with plumes reaching as high as 1,000 m (3,281 ft) above the summit. In 2009, Kerinci erupted again and followed by June 2, 2013 eruption with 600 m (1,969 ft) spewed black smoke. There is farmland in the area, and a tea plantation on its southern slope, Kerinci, being located in an Indonesian national park, and perhaps out of respect for its frequent growlings as well, sits in an area that is sparsely populated by Indonesian population-density standards.
Based on research in 1973, the 'Kecik Wok Gedang Wok' people are recognized as the first tribe to settle at a plateau around Mount Kerinci 10,000 years ago. Today, the Kecik Wong Gedang Wok people are limited due to assimilation with the Proto-Malay tribes which came later. There are around 135 dialects used only along the valley. This makes ethnographic analysis difficult to conduct.
The ‘Indisch’- Indonesian landscape painter Ernest Regnard Leonce Dezentjé was an autodidact. His career (mostly local) began when first president of the Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno (1901-1970), - who declared the independence of the country in 1945, felt in love with his painting and decided to make him the "court painter". Dezentje was then labelled an impressionist of the early Indonesian School, being considered by critics and young artists as a typical establishment artist. Along his eminently nationalistic themas the mountains and volcanoes of Indonesia took a important place.