The painting is in good condition, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. The paint layers are intact.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Masriadi's fertile imagination finds hundreds of ways to deliver a story - each of his canvasses presents a new pictorial narrative, with a biting punch line filled with astute observ๊ations of human nature. Since he found his artistic raison d'être in 1998, whether it is a lone figure or an epic grouping, Masriadi's composition are constantly fresh. With Sok Ngirit (Pretending to be Prudent), Masriadi has created another brilliant masterpiece by combining perfectly balanced formal elements of colour and composition with a thought-provoking anecdote. The painting depicts a man making a phone call inside an old-fashioned telephone booth while a group of men and women are lining up outside. They are standing on the pavement, stripped down to their underwear, and are angrily egging the man to finish his call.

In both colour and composition, Masriadi puts an emphasis on the man in the phone booth. Not only is he separated from the group by the cubicle, but a series of details draw the line of vision diagonally towards the upper right section of the canvas, pointing towards the head of the protagonist. The starting point begins with the midget on the lower left, whose squat figure and dark skin stand out against the women behind him. He is at the front of the tight group, anchoring the corner of the composition. The invisible line continues upwards to the black lingerie of the fairest woman in the group, then to her extended arms, starkly fair against the black skin of the man beside her. It then narrows onto her index finger, with its red-polished nail which points to the dark man's defined pectoral muscle.  As the invisible line ascends, it corresponds with a prominent vein running up his raised arm and ends on his open palm, just in front of the face of the pr♒otagonist, as if presenting him to the audience. Even all the figure's eyes are focused on the man in the telephone booth. This contemporary interpretation of the classical method used by Caravag💟gio in The Calling of Saint Matthew is as dramatic and effective in the present as it was in the sixteenth century.

A quick glance suggests that the man in the booth to be monopolizing the phone for so long that the crowd has taken off their clothes from either heat or frustration and is thus the culpable figure in the scene. But in Masriadi's world, everything is a game and nothing is quite wh🌳at it seems. The man in the booth might appear as if he has everything – after all, he is fully clothed and is usiဣng the phone – and the people outside might be labeled as the "have-nots", but the real perspective is hinted upon by the midget, who delivers the punch line (and not coincidentally, the title), "Heheh... Sok ngirit".

"Sok ngirit" is a common street phrase used to mock someone who has a lot of money but pretends to save in order to look economically prudent. What the midget discovers is that the man with the red boxer-briefs actually has a wallet full of cash. In fact, a closer observation reveals that the group seems to be well-groomed, with perfectly coiffed hair, dolled up face, and gleaming skin. In contrast, the man in the booth has dull skin and is🗹 unfashionable – he seems as run down as the cracked and water-sodden walls that surround him. Despite the fact that they are not dressed, the figures outside the booth have luxurious possessions: lace and designer underwear, a Louis Vuitton wallet, a sapphire ring, Chanel purses in fashionable aubergine and hot chilli red. The woman in pink lingerie is even holding a cleverly obscured white mobile phone. Could they, in fact, be the "haves"? But why would people who could afford designer clothes or someone who is texting on a mob💟ile phone need to use a telephone booth? The scrap of conversation of the man in the booth is also an additional clue. Only one submissive line, "Sorry Sir, No Sir, Yes Sir", is revealed, but it suggests that he is in fact in a subservient and powerless position and may not be the swaggering egoist he may first appear to be.

With this reversal of roles, nothing is certain anymore. It is possible that the sophisticated group of urbanites are actually impatie🍒nt hypocrites with no regard for other people's needs, who are willing to do anything to get what they want, including brazenly strip down to their underwear. Everything about the painting is intimate and personal, from the language used between the characters, which are colloquial and informal, to the zoomed-in, frontal perspective and particularly to the dressing (or lack thereof) of most of the figures. They fully occupy the entire picture plane, devoid of any barrier between the viewer and the painting. In all sense, they are laid bare, ready to be examined. Despite the wink and nudge of it all, the roles played by each of the characters, the "herd" / the majority (the group in general), the "provocateur" (the man in the red boxer-briefs), the common man (the man in the booth), the opportunist and the jester (the midget), could be applied to a variety of circumstances and settings - societal, political, even international relations, yet they are all unified in their representation of the imperfections and vulnerabilities of human nature. 

According to Sudjojono, "An artist must have courage, especially the courage to express his ideas to the world, even if it is not well-received by the public... And if this belief burns within the young artists, they will inevitably create a new form of painting, joyfully and passionately devote their souls to a truth, leaving the old world to live in the present world and to repair the one to come."  (translated from Aminudin TH Siregar, Enin Supriyanto (ed.), Seni Rupa Modern Indonesia, Esai-Esai Pilihan, p. 2-3). Masriadi's work could not be further in aesthetic and style from Sudjojono's, nevertheless he embodies the qualities Sudjojono had and advocated. A non-conformist, Masriadi has never catered his work to please its audience. Rather, it was his audience who grew to appreciate and understand him. Like his characters who must go against the crowd, Masriadi is unafraid to express his truth, even if it means being different from the prevailing trend. Through his blunt representation of humanity in search for a way to validate their lives, his audience might find the meaning of truly living.