art to a high level and at the same time each village
developed an authentic typical style which became their
own.
Style
of Batuan
The artists of Batuan, a remote village South of Ubud
rich of classical dances and simple village daily life,
were keen in their own wash technique using Chinese ink
on paper. With different layers they created depth in
the drawings and using all space on the surface. Their
daily life and beauty of surrounding became the objects
of drawings.
Style
in Sanur and Denpasar
The main art center of ‘hot spot’ beach Sanur
in ‘30s was the shop of the German Neuhaus brothers
who had an aquarium in their art shop, which sold paintings
from local boys inspired by the submarine life. The artists
used to work in a collaborative way in creating artwork,
which was done by many people.
As
a rapid growing city, Denpasar, had its own artist
like I Gusti Made Deblog (1906-1985), who started retouching
photos in the studio of the Chinese photography artist,
Yap Sin Tin. His ‘realism’ appeared in wash
technique on paper like dreamlike fairy world sprouting
out Deblog’s imaginations although the subjects
were part of Balinese epics.
The
Young Artists School of Penestanan
In 1956 a Dutch artist Arie Smit (born in 1916 in The
Netherlands) settled down in a village called Penestanan,
west of Ubud. His fascination of the simplistic use of
materials by young Balinese boys drew him into teaching
local boys and provided them with materials. They experimented
with mixing colors and simple figures and objects, which
resulted in a typical ‘naïve’ style,
called ‘The Young Artists’, using simple flat
figures with no details filled with spontaneously bright
colors and thick contour as to separate the various colors.
The
Ubud Style
Before the arrival of Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet the
artists in Ubud created wayang paintings on commission
for the palace. But it changes soon with the Pita Maha
association, which guided them and organized their exhibitions.
Bonnet became their tutor in selecting objects and materials
and soon enough many artists followed Bonnets style of
painting, which emphasizes the anatomy of human figures
in a natural surrounding.
