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Johan
Rudolf Bonnet was born into a Dutch family of Huguenot descent,
who had been bakers by trade for generations. As a student
of the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam,
he was initiated into drawing and painting in the academic
tradition of the early 20th century. In 1920, he |
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left Holland
for Italy, where he would spend the best part of the next
eight years, mostly in the village of Anticoli Corrado South
of Rome. It was in Italy too that he first heard of Bali
from Nieuwenkamp, the illustrator of the island's culture. |
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It
was his brother and sister whom Rudolf Bonnet first visited
with his parents after a journey to Dutch Indies on the
S.S. 'Jan Pieterszoon Coen'. Once in Semarang, however,
the memory of the photographs Nieuwenkamp had shown him
in Italy drew him further east, and he decided to visit
Bali, arriving there at the end of January 1929. But he
was soon enthused by the dance and pageantry and so decided
to stay. After two months in Tampaksiring he moved to Peliatan
to a pavilion rented from the punggawa of Peliatan. Through
whom Bonnet was introduced to all the right people in the
area, in particular Walter Spies and the princes of the
House of Ubud like Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati and Tjokorda
Raka Sukawati. Friendship was immediate, and when Spies
moved to a new house in Campuhan, Bonnet took over his water
palace in Ubud and set up his studio there. |
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Following
the Japanese landing Bonnet was not immediately imprisoned.
But this did not last. When a new officer took charge, he
had the Dutchmen arrested and shipped to Sulawesi in 1943.
Bonnet thus spent the rest of the war in internment camps
in different places, in Paréparé, in Bolong
and finally in Makassar. |
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In
1947 Bonnet found himself back in Ubud after a short stay
in Makassar. Part of the important Dutch community of the
Indies had disappeared in the turmoil of the war, but those
who escaped intended to stay. Bonnet, among them, had not
other idea than resuming his pre-war action. In 1948, |
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even
though some Balinese artists had taken to the mountains
and the conditions were far from secure, he held in Denpasar
the first post-war Balinese exhibition under the auspices
of the Republik Indonesia Timur. It was during this post-war
period that Bonnet's influence reached its peak. With Bonnet
in Ubud, and Ubud back on the map of tourism, the reasons,
which had led to the creation of Pita Maha before the war,
were still present. In 1951 Bonnet attempted to create an
association with similar purposes, called the Golongan Pelukis
Ubud. This |
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organization was more limited in scope and only
involved artists from the Ubud area, around the figures
of I Gusti Nyoman Lempad and Anak Agung Gede Sobrat. The
Golongan Pelukis Ubud, though failed to achieve durable
success to recreate the equivalent of Pita Maha's. |
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President
Soekarno turned the island into the window of Indonesia
and had a palace built for himself |
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in Tampaksiring, overlooking
the Balinese nymphs at bath. Bonnet knew Soekarno, who used
to visit him in his studio and had a close contact with
him, dating back from an exhibition in Jakarta in 1951,
when the President ordered Bonnets paintings to his palace. One does not know why Bonnet did not use this connection
to look for protection, for he later complained later of
constant difficulties with immigration. |
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Bonnet
spent much of his time and energy dealing with the legacy
of the Pita Maha years: collecting and researching the works,
looking for funds for what was to be the Museum Puri Lukisan
in Ubud, |
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planning its construction, making its inventory,
preparing its catalogue, etc. He remained for this purpose
in constant contact with Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati, who
tried several times to have him come back to the island.
The conditions did not allow it before 1972, when Bonnet could finally come with a three-month grant from the Dutch
government to make an inventory of the museum and complete
its catalogue. He returned the following years (1973-1975-1976)
with a similar purpose and literally set up the collection
of the Museum |
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Puri Lukisan. Meanwhile his action gained
an increase in recognition, earning him awards and medals
and a mythical image with the Balinese. Burdened by age
and illness, he could never complete the catalogue. He passed
peacefully away in Laren, Holland in 1978. It is in Bali,
though, that his soul was released, when in 1979 accompanied
his friend Tjokorda Gede Agung to the realm of the gods
in one of the greatest cremations to date. |
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Birth
of Johan Rudolf Bonnet from Jean Bonnet Jr. and Elisabeth
Elsina Mann in Amsterdam, his youth followed at HBS,
Hendrick de Keyserschool, a technical education, Rijksschool
voor Kunstnijverheid, where he graduated in decorative
painting, in the evenings he went to Rijksacademie
van Beeldende Kunsten, an art academy in Amsterdam,
accompanied by a day course at the decorative department
in Haarlem. |
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A
holiday with his parents to Italy, where Bonnet decided
to stay longer in Anticoli Corrado. |
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A
short stay in North of Africa |
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Bonnet
finally arrived in Bali and stayed in Ubud to be involved
in the community work such as healthcare, education
and art developments with different organizations
such as Pita Maha and museum Bali. |
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Second
World War, the Japanese put Bonnet and others in jail
and camps. Friends from Bonnet left for Holland, but
Bonnet refused to leave and stayed in Makassar. |
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Bonnet
was actively involved in the building of Museum Puri
Lukisan, which attracted much attention from locals
and governments in and outside Bali. |
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Bonnet
left for Anticoli Corrado and even there he was actively
involved in the local art development by setting up
exhibition and art organization. |
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Bonnet
returned to Holland and tried to raise funds for the
museum Puri Lukisan in Holland to the Dutch government. |
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Bonnet
who was always active in any art organizations, even
in Holland, had to move to Rosa Spier House in Laren
where he spent his old days with painting and exhibitions
until he died. |
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Bonnet
came to Bali for a short period of three months. |
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He
continued his work in Bali again with the funding
of the Dutch government. |
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On
his own expenses Bonnet left for Bali to finish his
task by writing a museum catalogue. |
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With
support of the Dutch government Bonnet returned to
Bali for a short stay of four months to make an inventory
of the museum collection. |
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After
a heavy operation in Laren, Bonnet passed away peacefully. |
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A
Balinese cremation together with his Balinese friend
Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati was held in Ubud |
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"Ridder
in de Orde van Oranje Nassau" by the Queen of
Holland |
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"Dharma
Kusuma" by Governor Sukarmen in Bali |
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"Satyalancana
Kebudayaan" by the Indonesian Embassy in Holland |
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