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BALINESE ART: HISTORY AND PROGRESSION (1900-1960s)

Jessamine Ayudhawara Kurnia

Raffles School of Continuing Education Hong Kong

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The twentieth century was the bloom of art movements in the Western Countries. The art community was gifted with the emergence of important figures and remarkable artworks that benchmarked the turning points in art history. However, in the spring garden of blossoming flowers, the complementing beauty of grass patches are often overlooked. Many failed to notice the art of the less developed country in the world, as these regions did not get as much coverage and chances to take part in the ‘happening’ in the center of art world then. Nevertheless, it does not mean that the artworks of these people were less prominent. On this occasion, I would like to shed a light on Balinese art and its revolutionary progression in the twentieth century and where it stands in the present time.

Balinese art do not fall under the classification of Western art movements. As much as they do not qualify to fit into any of the style, it is more likely that Balinese art takes on different vision compared to those manifested by Western artists. This is due to the massive disparity in the cultural background of the worlds. Furthermore, the original purpose of artwork produce also coined a contribution to native artists’ perception and illustration of aesthetical value.

Regardless to the later peaking popularity, the real beauty of Balinese art can never be fully understood without appreciating its historical and cultural influences. Complexity is a word that can describe Balinese art, as it was and still exhibit meticulous attention to minute details. Furthermore, Balinese art usually showcased odd and whimsical looking creatures along with bizarre detailing technique. These elements of Balinese art were not only the proof of talent and creativity, but were also part of the narration and cultural context that inspire such artwork. Such unconventional quirks (which are the identification and selling point of Balinese art nowadays) were perplexing and too eccentric for foreign standard. Thus, tracing back the history of Balinese culture is an inevitable process of unraveling the genuine exquisiteness of Balinese art.

Bali as an island is a snow globe filled with pieces of art of different medium interacting together to create a community. For this reason, Balinese artists are not particularly bound to one identity, but develop a variety of media to work with to assist their diversity in conception. Many of Balinese painters are also prominent in sculpting and performance art. This practical interrelationship between arts means that each draws on to the other. Furthermore, Balinese art society does not limit the availability of artistic knowledge to those with intellectual sets of skills. Balinese community is more open, allowing anyone of any class to produce and/or critique artworks. Under those circumstances, the integration of phantasm is more lively and surreal.

Although Balinese people live in the realm of artistic lifestyle, revolutionary changes in the art form were mostly visible in the painting department. For this essay to be more articulate and comprehensive, the medium of painting will be largely utilized as example for analysis and comparison. Consequently, in the study of the artistic progression, different styles of Balinese art (Kamasan, Tabanan, Ubud, Batuan, Sanur, Young Artist) will be introduced.

Prior the 1920s, Balinese art was a tradition practiced to serve religious purposes. The art form of such period portrayed insufficient unconventional variety (conservative and orthodox forms), owing to the fact that they were displayed in temples and other religious

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settings. Correspondingly, the art form followed a set of sternly advocated Hinduism commandments, developed with limited choices of available coloring (earthen tone like red, brown, black etc.) and material. Such restrictions constrict the innovative aspect in developing the artwork (Djelantik, 1988). These criteria classified the Kamasan and Tabanan style. Kamasan and Tabanan style were the two oldest styles of Balinese art history. Although Kamasan and Tabanan style often discussed together as a pair, there were subtle deviations, which distinguished the styles. In spite of echoing Kamasan works (See Appendix Figure 2), Tabanan (See Appendix Figure 1) had its own idiosyncrasies and a greater, if rougher, fluidity than was found in classical Kamasan painting. Despite the variance, both styles were deemed the most traditional form of Balinese art.

The emergence of commercial Balinese painting was started in late 1920s to early 1930s. Balinese had been aware of alternative modes of art for a very long time, as the record of the time when Balinese first saw Western art was in 1957 (Vickers, 2011, p. 29). It was the later exposure to Western artists that started the modernization of Balinese art. Although the arrival and succession of Dutch artist W. O. J, Nieuwenkamp and American painter Maurice Sterne introduced foreign art style to local artists, this primary exposure did very little in painting its color on Balinese art (Belo, 1956). It was the later foreign artist collectives that stopped the long established conventional art form of the time. The influences of foreign art and new variety of material relieved artists from customary art form and experiment to develop new styles of Balinese art. In spite of that, Balinese artists still managed to protect the distinct individuality of their genre while incorporating such influences to their work. As quoted from a Mexican artist, Miguel Covarrubias (1937), although this was the “liberating revolution” of Balinese art, Balinese painters enveloped their works with novel originality of their own.

The groundbreaking period of classical modern Balinese art was the 1930s, where the level of creativity integrated to artworks manifested at the moment were at its peak. It was at this moment that the many of finest and most innovative pieces of the 20th century were produced. The art became less decorative, representational and formalized (See Appendix Figure 3). The artists were driven by the departure of tradition and started to prioritize the technique and degree of perception in their artwork. It was around this period too, where artists started signing their name on their artworks.

Of course, many would assume that it was the Western teachings that mold the style of Balinese modern traditional art. After all, it was the arrival of Rudolf Bonnet and Walter Spies, which gathered the local art enthusiasts in one place to start manifesting art for recreational means. Correspondingly, they were also the foreign artists who gave critiques and even performed physical correction on native’s artworks as they see fit. However, the Western artists of the time did not do much in influencing the creativity and perceived aesthetical development of Balinese art style. As a matter of fact, the Western artists who harbor themselves in Bali were second and third rate artist in their respective countries. They only acted as a catalyst in the technique growth and revelation of the more creative side of art of the natives. The development of styles and innovation in Balinese painting were advancements in result to the changing view of the art form as one’s own sake instead of religious commission. It was at this very transitional moment

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that Balinese art community was open to people of every class. The larger community of Bali was invited to explore and paint their story on the canvas.

Nonetheless, Bonnet and Spies did participate in the revelation of the more creative side of Balinese art in public. They joined hands with the Ubud royal family to establish the Pitamaha Art Guild in 1936, with the intention to preserve the root and quality of Balinese art from over exposure. The fellowship was the foundation of the unfolding Ubud style, which introduced the everyday lifestyle of Balinese people (See Appendix Figure 4). The Ubud style introduced artworks of casual motives, more mature techniques and color combination. Only in this particular style that the Western influence was vivid enough to be pointed out.

The Pitamaha Art Guild also helped the formation of Batuan style. Unlike Ubud style, Batuan style still followed the aesthetic of classic Kamasan style, despite its freedom of purpose. Henceforth, Batuan style paintings possessed subdued dark colors, with dense, crowded canvas (See Appendix Figure 5). Batuan style paintings usually featured distorted looking creatures depicted from native folklores, conveying the artists’ perception of a world where divine energy and menacing demonic powers were constantly affecting human lives (See Appendix Figure 6). These combinations generated gloomy and psychologically intense atmosphere on most of Batuan style paintings.

On the contrary, Sanur style artworks showcased elements of playfulness, despite still following the orthodox aesthetical value. The features that distinguished Sanur style artworks were the strong sense of experimentation with colors, compositions and the use of foliage to fill empty scenes to create a sense of the very different coastal landscape of Sanur (See Appendix Figure 7). Although Sanur style took close reference to Batuan style, only a few of Sanur style paintings possessed dark, brooding ambience of Batuan style, even when making extensive use of black background (See Appendix Figure 8). This distinction was due to the fact that Sanur style artworks were manifested to suit the foreign artistic taste, as it was highly demanded for trading by the Neuhaus Brothers, German entrepreneur who sold Balinese souvenirs.

The second development of Balinese modern art happened in the 1950s-1960s. The post war period allowed Balinese artists to turn a new leaf and abandon most of the established standard in their artwork. The evolution of the artwork in this period was due to the reformation in infrastructure and technology advancement of Indonesia. Perhaps the term ‘modern’ used by Europeans would fit this period nicely, rather than the early modernization of the 1930s. Nonetheless, the changing scenery and daily rituals did do Balinese art a drastic growth. Balinese artists unknowingly started to catch up with Western standards of art form of the early twentieth century. Colors and a closer depiction to real form were showcased in the paintings manifested during this transitional period. Although the art form of this period escalated drastically compared to those of the 1930s, many of the artists of this period derived their purpose and vision from those of Ubud style. As the result, this transitional period is often referred as New Ubud style (See Appendix Figure 9).

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At the present time, Balinese art has developed into a twist of classic and contemporary. As Balinese art is sought-after by worldwide curator, it has become a genre of its own, often labeled by foreigners as Balinese Modern Traditional art. However, calling Balinese painting traditional is a misrepresentation. Traditional carries the meaning of adhering to sets of tradition and customs, while Balinese painting encompasses highly innovative change in their progression. Despite depicting such distinctively conventional set iconography style, these artworks allow high degree of changes to take over. Foreign influences were evident, but these elements were craftily introduced in a twist of the artist’s perception of such influence in connection to the cultural and social context of Bali, thus creating a priceless peculiar originality that is still dynamic and innovative.

Word count: 1816 words

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REFERENCE

Bali Wood Resort. (n.d.). BaliKamasan: The Realm of Balinese Traditional and Classical Artforms. Retrieved May 30, 2014, from http://www.baliwoodresort.com/kamasanexhibition.htm

Belo, J. (1956). Balinese Village Art. Washington DC: Library of Congress.

Covarrubias, M., & Luce, C. B. (2006). Island of Bali. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. (Original work published 1937)

Höhn, K. D. (1997). Reflections of faith: the history of painting in Batuan 1834-1994. Netherlands: Pictures Publishers Art Books.

Mccauley, A. P., & Djelantik, A. A. (1988). Balinese Paintings. The Journal of Asian Studies, 47(4), 934.

Vickers, A. (2011). Balinese art: paintings and drawings of Bali, 1800-2010. Tokyo: Tuttle Pub.

 

   

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APPENDIX

Figure 1. Wongaya Gede. (early 20th century). Smaradahana: Siwa burns Smara. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/8831.html

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Figure 2. I Nyoman Dongol. (1930). Adiparwa. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/8702.html

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Figure 3. I Gusti Nyoman Lempad. (1936). Erotic Scene. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/10440.html

Figure 4. Ida Bagus Gerebuak. (1929). Football Game. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/15529.html

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Figure 5. Ida Bagus Made Jatasura. (1936). Cremation. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/9592.html

Figure 6. I Nyoman Ngendon. (1937). Rangda. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/8611.html

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Figure 7. Ida Bagus Sodang. (1937). Bathing People and Animals. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/15558.html

Figure 8. Ida Bagus Ketut Sunia. (1936). Erotic Scene. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/9267.html

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Figure 9. Affandi. (1960). Barong & Rangda. Retrieved from http://blog-senirupa.blogspot.hk/2013/12/36-karya-lukisan-affandi-part-1.html

Figure 10. I Wayan Pugur. (1970). In The Village. Retrieved from http://www.museumneka.com/Collection.asp?Category=Young%20Artists%20Style%20Painting

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Figure 11. I Ketut Tagen. (1987). Wedding Procession. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/heurist/balipaintings/21330.html