Mainland Southeast Asia
Over the course of the nineteenth century, Southeast Asia is colonized by Britain, France, and Holland. In 1799, the Dutch government takes over the Dutch East India Company's rule of parts of the Indonesian archipelago. Over the next hundred years, it extends control throughout the entire archipelago, including Sumatra and Bali. The modern boundaries of Indonesia are established at this time. Starting in 1824, Britain fights for control of Burma, finally incorporating it into its Indian empire in 1886. It gradually takes over peninsular Malaya as well, and, by 1874, effectively rules the area that will become modern-day Malaysia. By strengthening central authority over local chiefs and opening trade to Europe, Thailand remains free under a stable and strong monarchy. But France colonizes Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to proclaim the French Indochina Union in 1887.
Colonization has an enormous impact on the populations and economies of the region. The British favor Indian and Chinese immigrants for skilled positions in Malaysia, and dismiss the general Malaysian population as peasantry. Education policies deepen ethnic divides. In Cambodia, the French favor the Vietnamese over the local population, while the British encourage widespread immigration of Indians and Chinese into Burma, a policy that leads to political division felt into contemporary times. The Burmese economy, long based on subsistence farming, shifts drastically to a large-scale export economy. A policy called Cultuurstelsel, applied in Indonesia, forces farmers to grow export crops. Though successful in some ways, the policy causes famine and impoverishment. The desire to sell European goods in colonial markets erodes traditional crafts, such as the production of batik and ikat textiles in Indonesia. Regular wars waged to gain control further damage the region.
Under colonial domination, however, ancient monuments and texts are closely studied, preserved, and restored. Angkor Wat, for instance, is rediscovered in the mid-nineteenth century, and the monuments of Cham, in Vietnam, come to public attention in 1885. Photography aids in the documentation of these monuments: Angkor Wat is photographed for the first time in 1866. From the mid-nineteenth century onward, colonial governments begin to open museums and found archaeological surveys. While knowledge of the past is gathered in the service of power, it also generates respect for and pride in Southeast Asian cultures, and becomes an important source of inspiration for local artists in the twentieth century who strive to create modern, non-Western arts.
Many traditions continue to thrive in the nineteenth century. Religious imagery tends to be conservative and relatively immune to Westernization. Many indigenous courts patronize a high level of craftsmanship in textiles, metalwork, jewelry, and ceramics. Manuscript paintings remain largely traditional, though some reveal European influences and resemble the Company School paintings of India. During the early nineteenth century, China is a dominant cultural influence in mainland Southeast Asia. However, elite culture becomes increasingly Westernized as colonial powers expand their control. In Burma, for instance, European pictorial conventions dominate the frescoes at the Kyauk-Taw-Gyi Temple (184950), while the Altumashi Monastery in Mandalay (1857) mixes European and indigenous architectural structures and motifs. The Javanese painter Raden Saleh (ca. 18071880), considered the "father" of Indonesian modern art, travels to Europe to study painting in 1829. Western art makes an impression much later in Vietnam, beginning with a few painters like Le Van Mien (18731943) who work in oils in the late nineteenth century. Despite Thailand's independence, the passion for things Western hits its elite at this time as well. The architecture of King Mongkut (r. 185168) incorporates Greek orders and Chinese ceramics into a Thai stylistic rubric. Over the next half century and well into the early twentieth, photography and naturalistic painting and sculpture dominate Thai court art.
Island Southeast Asia
While the great majority of the population in this period are Muslim, Buddhist, or Christian, Southeast Asia is also home to a diversity of indigenous peoples, who share aspects of their language, art, and culture with the Polynesians, Micronesians, and other Pacific Island groups. Often living in isolated enclaves separated by hundreds, even thousands, of miles, the region's indigenous peoples nonetheless exhibit remarkable similarities in their art and cultures, indicating that these groups share a common ancestry. One of the most striking similarities is in their conception of the human form, which is typically depicted in a seated or crouching position with the legs drawn close to the body and the hands or forearms resting on the knees.
Sculpture in indigenous Southeast Asian societies serves as a means of honoring and communicating with the supernatural beings believed to ensure the safety and prosperity of the village community. Most images depict local ancestors or fearsome supernatural guardians. Southeast Asia's indigenous peoples, particularly in Indonesia, also create a rich variety of textiles. However, by the mid-1800s, the colonial powers begin to send Christian missionaries to convert indigenous peoples from their local religions and many artistic traditions, particularly the creation of figural sculpture, begin to decline.
1799The Dutch government takes over from the Dutch East India Company to rule the latter's holdings in the Indonesia archipelago.
1814British explorers become the first Westerners to visit and report on the monumental Buddhist temple at Borobudur on Java.
182426Great Britain begins its conquest of Burma in the first Anglo-Burmese War.
182530The Javanese aristocracy fights the Java War to make a last stand against Dutch rule. Following the war, the Dutch annex court lands.
1826Thailand signs a commercial treaty with Great Britain.
182728Thailand devastates the Laotian city Vientiane. After this, Vietnam and Thailand control northern Laos.
1829The Indonesian painter Raden Saleh (ca. 18071880) travels with his Belgian instructor to Europe, returning to Java in 1951. His accomplished European landscapes, hunt scenes, and portraits make him an international success. He is regarded as the father of Indonesian modern painting.
1833Thailand signs a commercial treaty with the U.S.
1848The tombs of Minh Mang (r. 182041) and Tu Duc (r. 184783), of Vietnam's Nguyen dynasty, are built.
1850The first Dutch missionaries are sent to the Batak people of northern Sumatra.
1850sThe second Anglo-Burmese War is waged.
18501940Dutch museums send numerous expeditions to Indonesia and assemble large collections of Indonesian art and artifacts.
1856Following a series of dreams, King Mindon of Burma (r. 185378) relocates the capital from Amarapura to Mandalay. The next year, his entire palace complex is moved to Mandalay.
1858Sir Henry Yule's (18201889) account of the Burmese court publicizes Burma's archaeological heritage.
1859Queen Victoria sends Thailand's King Mongkut (r. 185168) a camera and bronze busts. The busts are enormously influential on court artists.
185961Henri Mouhot (18261861) rediscovers the ruins of Angkor Wat.
186263In Vietnam, France establishes dominion over Saigon. Cambodia becomes a French Protectorate.
1863The Thai artist Luang Theprojana begins work on the first royal portrait from life, inspired by a statuette of the king sent from Paris.
1865The Society of Indochinese Studies is founded in Saigon.
1866John Thomson (18371921), a Scot, takes the first photographs of Angkor Wat.
187294The Batak War is fought between the Dutch and the Batak people of northern Sumatra.
1873Louis Delaporte (18421925) brings sculptures and casts from Cambodia to Paris, generating interest in the first Indochinese Museum. (The museum closes in 1931, and the collection is transferred to the Musée Guimet, Paris.)
1874The Pangkor Treaty allows Britain to extend control over peninsular Malaya. The sultan becomes a figurehead.
1883The French representative to Cambodia, Jean Moura, produces the first comprehensive history of the country. Sir Arthur Phayre (18121885) publishes the first serious history of Burma.
1883Krakatau, known in the West as Krakatoa, erupts, killing an estimated 36,000 people in western Java and southern Sumatra.
1885Cham monuments are rediscovered in Vietnam.
1886Britain gains complete control over Burma, annexing it to India and ruling the country from Calcutta.
1887The French proclaim the Indochinese Union.
1888Malaysia's Selangor Museum is established.
1893Thailand transfers its Laotian territories to the French; Laos becomes a French Protectorate and a part of the Indochinese Union.
1898The Mission Archéologique d'Indochine opens in Saigon, then moves to Hanoi in 1900 under the new name École Française d'Extrême-Orient.
1898Spain is defeated in the Spanish-American War and cedes colonial control of the Philippines to the United States.
1899The Archaeological Department of Burma is founded. The Rangoon Museum opens as well.