other foreign artists

<sup>No list of expatriate painters in Bali would be complete without the name of Antonio Blanco, who settled here after independence. Married to a beautiful Balinese woman and father to several talented children, Blonco has successfully created a legend in his own time based on admirable talents, eccentric flair and a long term, successful PR campaign.A Philippine of Catalan descent, blanco was born in Manila in 1927. Later he became an American citizen and attended the Fine Arts Academy in New York City. Blanco traveled the world, dressing outlandishly from Hawaii to Florida, before ending in Bali (see the photos in his book). Picking up where Walter Spies and Le Mayeur left off, he decided that he would be the ultimate painter of Bali. Assuming the role of one of greatest artists of his era, he dazzled tourists with such dramatic statements as, "Life is Art and my Life is Art". If this was not enough, a beautiful bare breasted Balinese girls carrying an offering of flowers would often nonchalantly appear in the background to emphasize the drama of the moment.

While identifying himself with Salvador Dali, another Catalan, Blanco’s painting is much moreindebted to such realists as Willem Hofker. Blanco continued where Hofker stopped, liberating the pigment with bolder strokes and sweeps of color. He also took Hofker’s sensuality to a new often shocking level. His woman are provocative and even daunting. While inviting on the first impression, they display a certain ambiguity which reflects on the orientation of the artist. For many the best part of Blanco’s art is his acting ability, closely followed by his extraordinary frames, often more avant garde then the paintings they enclose.A favorite among the rich of Jakarta, Blanco rarely paints at his point-perhaps too busy receiving awards. A true cultural icon in Ubud -everyone should be sure to visit the immitable and unmatched master, Antonio Blanco.</sup>

^{1956-Ariel Smit was a soldier in the Dutch Colonial Army before the war who knew a good thing when he saw it. Settling in Ubud, Bali in 1965 he is often acclaimed the father of the "young Artists School", a rather dubious movement which had a promising beginning but ended up as one of the worst in Bali. Much to his credit and despite praise for his role, he detached himself from the Young Artists before they aged. By applying for Indonesia citizenship in 1951, Arie managed to avoid being expelled with his friends, Sonnega and Bonnet, in 1957. He regularly wrote to Bonnet, to keep him informed of developments, and to a certain extent assumed his role in Ubud after his departure. Today Smit works under the patronage of Pande Suteja Neka and has achieved great success with regular exhibitions in Jakarta and two books dedicated to his art. With a bright palate his landscapes often echo Cezanne. His portraits could be better compared to Gauguin or Theo Meier, whom he knew well. The best collection of his work is to be seen in the Museum Neka.}

^{1935-Le Meyeur.An eccentric member of the Belgium royal family born in Brussels in 1880, Le Mayeur rejected his heritage and sought to follow in the footsteps of the first white primitive, Gauguin, by sailing off to Tahiti and French Polynesia to become a painter. These places were already in decline in Gauguin’s time and sorely disappointed Le Mayeur. He ended up in Bali in the 1930’s which he found much more inspiring. His muse was his beautiful wife, the famous Legong dancer, Ni Pollok, whom he married when he was well into his fifties. Together they settled in a wonderful home on Sanur beach which is now a colourful but dilapidated museum much in need of conservation (funds have been granted by Belgium for this purpose but they seem not yet to have reached Bali). During the 1930’s numerous tourists, just off the round the world cruise boats which docked in Bali to every week, would visit to be served drinks and snacks by his gracious topless wife and her pretty servants. This so galled the head of the Colonial government towards the end of the decade that he sent a warning to him that this immoral behavior must stop. Le Mayeur wrote to his cousin the king of Belgium, who in turned wrote to Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, who in turn wrote to the Governor -General of the Dutch East Indies, who in turn told the puritanical governor of Bali to shut up. Le Mayeur’s style is impressionistic, using short strong brush strokes of rather thick paint and palate of rich colors (liberated by his contact with Theo Meire?). This combination results with an agitated sense of movement in a sharp but harmonious combination with an inevitably idyllic scene. These usually include one or several topless portraits of Ni Pollak in dance or reflective poses against a sunny garden background with twisted frangipani tress and fallen flowers true visions of paradise. His canvases presently fetch around $.150.000 a piece. Despite theft and conservation problems several of best canvases are still at his house now museum in Sanur which is well worth a visit.}

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1928-Rudolf Bonnet

^{he son of an Amsterdam baker, Rudolf had to fight hard to escape his petty bourgeois background and become an artist. His lust to live the artist’s life brought him to Italy early where he was strongly influenced by Renaissance drawing and met with Nieuwenkamp who had a villa near Florence. Nieuwenkamp convinced Bonnet to travel Bali. Bonnet’s drawings and painting are always figurative and often elongated showing strong classical influence and his desire to express "beauty" in his art. With Spies he founded the Balinese artists union Pitamaha…}

^{Often maligned as a still, colorless man, Bonnet’s dedication to the Balinese and their art has no peerthe existence of the Puri Lukisan, the only museum in Ubud which is not a tribute to some wealthy art dealer’s ego, owes its existence primarily to his tireless energy (he also donated the best pieces in the collection). Where Spies was flamboyant, Bonnet was a nuts and bolts man who made sure the plans worked. They represented the two polarities of the Bali expat gay life style of the era. Bonnet was forced off the island in 1957 after refusing to sell a certain painting to then President Soekarno. He returned some 15 years later as an old man, often intolerant of the new generation of expatriates who thought they knew better. His ashes were cast in to the sea with those of his close friend, Cokorda Agung Sukawati of Ubud 1978. Bonnet drawings are to be found at both the Neka and Agung Rai museums.}

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1927- Walter Spies

^{In almost everybody’s opinion, Walter Spies was the greatest and certainly the most flamboyant painter to live in Bali, Where his name has become a legend. Born is Russia to the parents of German diplomats, Spies was both a brilliant artist and musician. At the early age he was thrown into the creative maelstrom of the pre-second world war German avant gerde movement. Lover of the great German director, Fritz Murnau, Spies was in close contact with Otto Dix and Oskar Kokoschka, both who influenced his painting. In a letter to his father in 1919 he writes that he wishes to free himself of indoctrination and prejudices about taste and beauty and paint freely like a child with the skill of Chagall and Klee. Bali was to give him the freedom to realize his wish.}Walter Spies was born on 14 Sep 1898, so he was about 25 years old when he came to Indonesia in 1923, and about 29 years old when he moved to Bali in 1927.In almost everybody's opinion, Walter Spies was the greatest and certainly the most flamboyant painter to live in Bali, where his name has become a legend. Born in Russia in 1898, where his father Leon was a German diplomat, Spies was both a brilliant artist and musician. After World War I, he was thrown into the creative maelstrom of the Weimar Republic, embracing the German artistic avant-garde. Lover of the great German film director, Frederich Murnau, Spies was in close contact with Otto Dix and Oskar Kokoschka, who both influenced his painting. In a letter to his father in 1919, Walter writes that he wishes to free himself of indoctrination and prejudices about taste and beauty and paint freely like a child, with the skill of Chagall and Klee. Bali was to give him the freedom to realize his wish.

The young, handsome Spies first traveled to Indonesia in 1923 at 25 years of age, in part to flee the grasp of the older and very possessive Murnau. He finally settled in Bali in 1927, where he created his best canvases during the 14 years he spent on the island. Often called a surrealist for the dream-like quality of his paintings, Spies' works combine a rich and fluid imagination mingled with Balinese scenes and myths. While a great painter, his production was limited as he was always busy with countless other projects, such as supporting local arts and artists and co-authoring books on dance and drama. As Bali's most famous European resident in the 1930s, he entertained such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin and conductor Leopold Stokowski, some of whom bought his works.

Persecuted as a homosexual, he was helped by Margaret Mead and her husband Gregory Bateson, who testified that his 'transgressions' were not inconsistent with Balinese culture. He was deported with others as a prisoner in 1942 for holding a German passport. The ship was bombed, and, as the ship slowly sank, the prisoners perished in their locked cells, because the captain declined to free them. Walter's tragic death has only added to his romantic myth.

There is one painting attributed to Spies on the island at the Agung Rai Gallery. One of his best, from the collection of Dutch heiress, Marianne van Wessum, just sold at auction in The Hague for over
$500,000.

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some of the foreign artists in Bali 1904 - 1967

^{1904-W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp.The first artist to visit Bali. Born in Amsterdam in 1876, Nieuwenkamp’s nickname was the "Wanderer". He came not only to make his own art but to learn Balinese traditional painting. A multi-faceted autodidact,The first artist to visit Bali. Born in Amsterdam in 1876, Nieuwenkamp’s nickname was the "Wanderer". He came not only to make his own art but to learn Balinese traditional painting. A multi-faceted autodidact, W.O.J. was more a graphic artist than a painter. The first artist to visit Bali. Born in Amsterdam in 1876, Nieuwenkamp’s nickname was the "Wanderer". He came not only to make his own art but to learn Balinese traditional painting. A multi-faceted autodidact, W.O.J. was more a graphic artist than a painter.He returned to Bali many times over the years and authored the most important early book on the island Bali en Lombok (1906-1910), which includes pioneering ethnographic and archaeological studies. Working primarily in ink, his drawings are executed in rich sepia tones. The influence of Art Nouveau on his work is clear though he did not strictly belong to that movement. His large body of workon Bali and Indonesia, which includes nearly one thousand delightful drawings and paintings,is virtually unknown. He played a critical role in creating the myth of Bali, most importantly through his support of the German doctor and amateur photographer, Gregor Krauser. Together they held the first exhibition of Balinese Art in Amsterdam in 1918 with Krauser’s photos and Nieuwenkamp ’s drawings. It is Krauser’s later book which brought many of the artists mentioned in this article to Bali.}

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