Balinese art is an art of Hindu-Javanese origin that grew from the work of artisans of the Majapahit Kingdom, with their expansion to Bali in the late 14th century. From the sixteenth until the twentieth centuries, the village of Kamasan, Klungkung (East Bali), was the centre of classical Balinese art. During the first part of the twentieth century, new varieties of Balinese art developed. Since the late twentieth century, Ubud and its neighboring villages established a reputation as the center of Balinese art.
Ubud and Batuan are known for their paintings, Mas for their woodcarvings, Celuk for gold and silver smiths, and Batubulan for their stone carvings. Covarrubias describes Balinese art as, "... a highly developed, although informal Baroque folk art that combines the peasant liveliness with the refinement of classicism of Hinduistic Java, but free of the conservative prejudice and with a new vitality fired by the exuberance of the demonic spirit of the tropical primitive". Eiseman noted that Balinese art includes carved, painted and woven objects intended for everyday use rather than solely as works of art. Balinese painting is often intricate and incorporates elements associated with baroque folk art and tropical themes.
Recent History Before the 1920s, traditional Balinese paintings were mainly produced in what is now known as the Kamasan or Wayang style. They depicted narratives from the Hindu-Javanese epics, particularly the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as local stories such as the Malat, Panji narratives and the Brayut story.
These two-dimensional drawings are traditionally drawn on cloth or bark paper (Ulantaga or daluwang paper), and sometimes on wood, with natural dyes. The coloring is limited to available natural dyes: red from volcanic rocks, ochre, blue from indigo, and black from soot. In addition, the rendering of the figures and ornamentations must follow strictly prescribed rules, since they are mostly produced for religious articles and temple hangings. These paintings are produced collaboratively, and therefore mostly anonymously.
There were many experiments with new types of art by Balinese from the late nineteenth century onwards. These experiments were stimulated by access to new materials (western paper and imported inks and paint), and by the 1930s, new tourist markets stimulated many young Balinese to be involved in new types of art.
In the 1920s, with the arrival of many Western artists, Bali became an artist enclave (as Tahiti was for Paul Gauguin) for avant-garde artists such as Walter Spies (German), Rudolf Bonnet (Dutch), Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur (Belgian), Arie Smit (Dutch), Theo Meier (Swiss) and Donald Friend (Australian) in more recent years. Most of these Western artists had very little influence on the Balinese until the post-World War Two period, although some accounts over-emphasize the Western presence at the expense of recognizing Balinese creativity.
On his first visit to Bali in 1930, the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias noted that local paintings served primarily religious or ceremonial functions. They were used as decorative cloths to be hung in temples and important houses, or as calendars to determine children's horoscopes. Yet within a few years, he found the art form had undergone a "liberating revolution." Where they had once been severely restricted by subject (mainly episodes from Hindu mythology) and style, Balinese artists began to produce scenes from rural life. These painters had developed increasing individuality.
This groundbreaking period of creativity reached a peak in the late 1930s. A stream of famous visitors, including Charlie Chaplin and the anthropologists Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead, encouraged the talented locals to create highly original works. During their stay in Bali in the mid-1930s, Bateson and Mead collected over 2000 paintings, predominantly from the village of Batuan, but also from the coastal village of Sanur. Among Western artists, Spies and Bonnet are often credited for the modernization of traditional Balinese paintings. From the 1950s onwards Balinese artists incorporated aspects of perspective and anatomy from these artists. More importantly, they acted as agents of change by encouraging experimentation and promoting departures from tradition. The result was an explosion of individual expression that increased the rate of change in Balinese art. The 1930s styles were consolidated in the 1950s, and in more recent years have been given the confusing title of "modern traditional Balinese painting". The Ubud painters, although a minority amongst the artists working in the 1930s, became the representatives of the new style thanks to the presence of the great artist Gusti Nyoman Lempad in that village, and to the patronage of the traditional rulers of Ubud. The key points of the Ubud Style included a concentration on the depiction of daily Bali life and drama; the change of the patron of these artists from the religious temples and royal houses to western tourists/collectors; shifting the picture composition from multiple to single focus. Despite the adoption of modern Western painting traditions by many Balinese and Indonesian painters, "modern traditional Balinese painting" is still thriving and continues by descendants/students of the artists of the pre-war modernist era (1928-1942). The schools of modern traditional Balinese painting include Ubud, Batuan, Sanur, Young Artist, and Keliki schools of painting.
Modern traditional painting The pre-war modernization of Balinese art emanated from three villages: Ubud, where Spies settled, Sanur on the southern coast, and Batuan, a traditional hub of musicians, dancers, carvers, and painters. The artists painted mostly on paper, though canvas and board were also used. Often, the works featured repetitive clusters of stylized foliage or waves that conveyed a sense of texture, even perspective. Each village evolved a style of its own. Ubud artists made more use of open spaces and emphasized human figures. Sanur paintings often featured erotic scenes and animals, and work from Batuan was less colorful but tended to be busier.Agus Dermawan, Bali Bravo — a Lexicon of 200 years Balinese Traditional Painters, Bali Bangkit, 2006.
Ubud painting
Ubud became a center for art in the 1930s, under the patronage of the lords of Ubud, who rose to power at the end of the nineteenth century. Before the 1930s, traditional wayang-style paintings from other villages may have been found in Ubud but were more influential in the nearby village of Peliatan, which is nowadays classified as part of Ubud. Significant Ubud artists were already adapting versions of the wayang style by the end of the 1920s, notably Ida Bagus Kembeng of Tebesaya, who may have studied with relatives in nearby Tampaksiring village. I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, who had come to Ubud under the patronage of its ruling lord, changed from being an architect and sculptor to executing outstanding drawings around 1931. Anak Agung Gde Sobrat of Ubud also began to paint around this time. These and other artists were given materials and opportunities to sell their work by the resident European artists Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet. They developed experimental styles which European commentators identified as a new, modern type of Balinese art, differentiated from the traditional art which is governed by strict rules of religious iconography.
Under the patronage of the Ubud royal family, especially Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, and with Rudolf Bonnet as a chief consultant, the Pitamaha Art Guild was founded in 1936 as a way to professionalize Balinese painting. Its mission was to preserve the quality of Balinese Art in the rush of tourism to Bali. The board members of Pitamaha met regularly to select paintings submitted by its members, and to conduct exhibitions throughout Indonesia and abroad. Between 1936 and 1939, Bonnet organized significant exhibitions of this modern Balinese art in the Netherlands, with a smaller exhibition in London. Pitamaha was active until the Second World War came to Bali in 1942. Ubud artists who were members of Pitamaha came from Ubud and its surrounding villages: Pengosekan, Peliatan, and Tebasaya. Among them, besides those mentioned above, were: The three sons of Ida Bagus Kembeng: Ida Bagus Wiri, Ida Bagus Made, and Ida Bagus Belawa; Tjokorda Oka of the royal house of Peliatan; Sobrat and his family members, including Anak Agung Gde Meregeg, I Dewa Putu Bedil, I Dewa Nyoman Leper, Anak Agung Dana of Padangtegal; and I Gusti Ketut Kobot, his brother I Gusti Made Baret, I Wayan Gedot, Dewa Putu Mokoh of Pengosekan. Artists from other areas also participated, including Pan Seken from Kamasan, I Gusti Made Deblog from Denpasar, and some of the Sanur artists.
Although short-lived, Pitamaha is identified with the outpouring of modern art of the 1930s which preceded it, and with succeeding developments in art. Artists from Ubud have continued the Pitamaha tradition. Important among these Ubud Artists are Ida Bagus Sena (nephew of Ida Bagus Made Poleng), A.A Gde Anom Sukawati (son of A.A Raka Pudja), I Ketut Budiana, I Nyoman Kayun and I Nyoman Meja. Budiana is the artist with one of the most impressive solo exhibition track records. His paintings are collected by the Fukuoka Museum of Arts, Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Museum Puri Lukisan, Neka Museum, and Arma Museum. Ida Bagus Sena also has developed a unique style and has a deep understanding of Balinese philosophy in his paintings. Anom Sukawati is Balinese most successful colorist. I Nyoman Meja developed a style that is closely copied by several of his students. I Nyoman Kayun received the Bali Bangkit award in 2008.
Batuan painting The Batuan School of Painting is practiced by artists in the village of Batuan, which is situated to the south of Ubud. The Batuan artisans are gifted dancers, sculptors, and painters. Leading artists of the 1930s included I Nyoman Ngendon, and some members of leading Brahman families, including Ida Bagus Made Togog. Other major Batuan artists from the pre-modernist era include I Dewa Nyoman Mura (1877-1950) and I Dewa Putu Kebes (1874-1962), who was known as ; traditional Wayang-style painters for temples' ceremonial textiles.
The Western influence in Batuan did not reach the intensity it had in Ubud. According to Claire Holt, the Batuan paintings were often dark, crowded representations of either legendary scenes or themes from daily life, but they portrayed above all fearsome nocturnal moments when grotesque spooks, freakish animal monsters, and witches accosted people. This is particularly true for paintings collected by Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson during their field studies in Bali from 1936 to 1939. Gradations of black to white ink washes laid over most of the surface, to create an atmosphere of darkness and gloom. In the later years, the designs covered the entire space, which often contributed to the crowded nature of these paintings.