ERNEST DEZENTJE (1885- 1972)
Gunung Semeru (3, 676m - 12, 060ft)
Indonesia
The mountain
Mount Semeru - Gunung Semeru or Gunung Mahameru indonesian - (3, 676m - 12, 060ft) is an active volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. It is the highest mountain on the island of Java. This stratovolcano is also known as Mahameru, meaning 'The Great Mountain. The name derived from the Hindu-Buddhist mythical mountain of Meru or Sumeru, the abode of gods. Semeru is named from Sumeru, the central world-mountain in Buddhist cosmology and by extension Hinduism. As stated in legend, it was transplanted from India; the tale is recorded in the 15th-century East Javanese work Tantu Pagelaran. It was originally placed in the western part of the island, but that caused the island to tip, so it was moved eastward. On that journey, parts kept coming off the lower rim, forming the mountains Lawu, Wilis, Kelut, Kawi, Arjuno and Welirang. The damage thus caused to the foot of the mountain caused it to shake, and the top came off and created Penanggungan as well. Indonesian Hindus also hold a belief that the mountain is the abode of Shiva in Java.
Gunung Semeru or Mahameru is very steep rising abruptly above the coastal plains of eastern Java. Semeru lies at the south end of the Tengger Volcanic Complex.
Semeru's eruptive history is extensive.
Since 1818, at least 55 eruptions have been recorded (10 of which resulted in fatalities) consisting of both lava flows and pyroclastic flows. All historical eruptions have had a VEI of 2 or 3. Semeru has been in a state of near-constant eruption from 1967 to the present. At times, small eruptions happen every 20 minutes or so.
In 2014, there are as many as 25 non-native plants in Mount Semeru National Park, which threaten the endemic local plants. The foreign plants were imported by a Dutch botanist named Van Steenis, in the colonial era. They include Foeniculum vulgare mill, Verbena brasiliensis, chromolaena odorata, and Salvinia molesta.
Mud erosion from surrounding vegetable plantations are also making problem of silting of Ranu Pane Lake, which the lake becomes smaller and shallower. Research predicted the lake will disappear in about 2025, except the kind of vegetables plantation is replaced with more ecological plantations.
Semeru is regularly climbed by tourists, usually starting from the village of Ranu Pane to the north, but though non-technical it can be dangerous. mainly because of the poisonous gases on Mount Semeru.
The painter
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.
__________________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
