Sanghyang Jaran

Lot Description

Ida Bagus Nyoman Rai (1915 – 2000, Indonesian), Sanghyang Jaran, black ink on paper, 55 x 74 cm (21 2/3 x 29 1/8 in.), signed on top right.

Ida Bagus Nyoman Rai, born in 1915, was a painter from Sanur known for his moving and yet somewhat whimsical paintings that reflected the state of the world around him. Rai was born into a Brahmin family and started painting in his youth. Rai had developed a special relationship with Swiss painter Theo Maier, who moved to Bali in the 1930s, and who collected many of his works. Maier even gave him the name Ida Bagus Thinking. Rai also became close to Donald Friend in the 1960s, after the Second Word War, who did encourage his Sanur style of paintings.

Rai was known mainly for his black and white drawings on paper. His earlier works were mainly of a fisherman’s life, and his early life when he lived on Maier’s property. Rai’s later works reflected the darker years of the Balinese history. One of his most remarkable pieces was “The Battle of Bali”, 1942, where he painted Japanese soldiers in Sanur beach supervising laborers sinking piles offshore. Rai’s historical pieces were his own interpretation of the historical events that unfolded in Bali’s past.

His death in 2000 was a great loss to the Balinese Art world. His memories live on as his works are exhibited around the world, including the Agung Rai and Puri Lukisan Museums in Bali, the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, The Ethnographic Museum in Leiden, the Museum de Kulturen in Basel, and the National Gallery of Australia.

Provenance

From an important private collection

Condition Report

The painting is in very good condition. The pigment and paper appear to be in good condition, free of deformations, holes, tears or creases. Minor scratches are found at some areas.