Balinese paintings including Kamasan from Klungkung and traditional paintings from Ubud Bali.

Introduction to my Balinese painting collection.

As well as being a sewing machine collector, I also collect other items. I felt it important to share my Balinese painting collection and as I already had a webpage, I decided to tack this collection here. Maybe in time I will find dedicate a website purely to my Balinese artworks.

In 2022, I purchased a painting at auction. No one else put in a bid. Little did I know that it was painted by a famous Balinese painter, Mangku Mura. I returned this painting to his daughter, Mangku Muriati, in the town of Klungkung in East Bali. Mangku Muriati is an artist in her own right and I had the privilege of meeting her and purchasing one of her paintings. My interest in Balinese paintings began with my chance encounter with this famous family. Below are the Balinese paintings in my collection, some Kamasan, some more modern, more than likely all are produced for the tourist market and hold no monetary value, but I just love the style and plan to collect more if they become available..

If you have any information on any of these works, please reach out to me, I am always keen to learn more. I am not too concerned with value. I collect what I can afford and what I love. There are many paintings on the market that are just beautiful, but well out of my price range. The pieces in my collection are my “budget” paintings. Paintings created in Bali for the tourist market to be brought back by the thousands of Aussies that have been visiting the “Islands of the Gods” for many decades.

Manku Mura. (1920-1999)

In July 2022 I purchased this painting from an auction house in Melbourne. It measures 121cm x 147cm.

It was the catalyst for my love of Kamasan paintings. It turned out to be an original painting by the master Mangku Mura, as confirmed by his daughter. I returned this painting to his daughter, Mangku Muriati, in September 2022.

IMAGE right : Original Mangku Mura painting, circa 1970s.

To see more photos of this artwork please visit my Mangku Mura page.

More information on Mangku Mura the artist can be found at Mangku Mura, Balinese Artist – The Australian Museum

Mangku Muriati. (1967-)

In September 2022 on a trip to Bali, I met the beautiful artist Mangku Muriati and her sister, in the area of Klungkung.

I returned to her, her fathers painting (see above) and she was kind enough to invite me into her home and agreed to sell me one of her own paintings.

IMAGE right: Here Mangku Muriati is explaining the story behind her painting, that I took home with me.

To see more of this meeting with Manku Muriati and her paintings, please visit my Mangku Muriati page.

More information on Mangku Muriati can be found at Mangku Muriati – The Australian Museum

Kamasan, Batuan, traditional and modern Balinese art in my collection.

My chance encounter with a Kamasan masterpiece led me on a journey to Bali and a love of Balinese paintings. One thing led to another and without realising it I was researching Balinese paintings. I began to actively seek out any inexpensive painting I could find in my local area. The range of “tourist” paintings is broad, many do not appeal to me, but every now and again a painting will turn up that ticks all my boxes. If a piece is within my small budget and within easy travelling distance, I try to add it to my collection. Fortunately for me Balinese paintings of unknown artist and unknown date pop up quite often here in Melbourne. Below are some of the paintings now in my collection. Most probably brought back by tourists over the years.

Click on the title to go to their respective pages.

Pan Rumiasih & Hasil Karya, ING. RIPTA. KANASAN, KLUNG KUNG. BALI

July 2022, in the same auction as the above Manku Mura original painting, there were 5 other Kamasan paintings. These I also acquired on the day. Mangku Muriati told me that these were painted by other artists in her local area and painted in a more “modern” style. Possibly circa 1980s or later.

Included are an unsigned Tabing Plintangan 35 day Calendar, an Unsigned Tabing – Arjuna Wiwaha : Arjuna Metapa (ARJUNA’S MEDITATION) and three signed paintings from the Ramayana.

Nk. Pt. GANDRA Tebesaya. UBUD. BALI

May 2023. Another clearance sale auction. Once again, I was the only bidder. Large painting on cloth, 115cm x 68cm, framed in Singapore. I have no provenance on this painting or its origins.

To see the gallery and more photographs of this painting, please visit my Gandra page.

Agung Rai. Bali

May 2023, this painting was advertised on FB marketplace. It measures 100cm x 80cm. It is a painting on cloth and has been framed with a backboard.

The seller told me she purchased the painting approx. 45 years ago in the late 1970s or early 1980s in Bali and the frame was the original hand carved wood frame.

To see the gallery and more photographs of this painting, please visit my Agung Rai page.

I Nyoman Gaya / Caya UBUD Bali

An ebay purchase late 2022. Measures approx 40cm x 60cm. Ink and paint on canvas. I can’t make out the signature exactly. Hopefully in time I will identify this artist.

To see the gallery and more photographs of this painting, please visit my B&W Gaya page.

Agung Raka. Kerta Gosa Taman, Gili Klung Kung Bali Indonesia.

Clearance auction June 2023. 82cm x 62cm plus frame. Kamasan paiting on cloth. Signed on back. Agung Raka. Kerta Gosa Taman, Gili Klung Kung Bali Indonesia.

Framed in Melbourne, pre 1996.

Possibly depicting the Kurukshetra war in the Mahabharata

To see more images of this painting, please go to my Agung Raka page.

I Nyoman Dana, Batuan, Bali

Found in June 2023 on Facebook Marketplace. Small painting only measures 52cm x 26cm.

It sat unsold for many weeks, until the price came down to practically nothing, so I decided to rescue it. Signed on bottom left, I Nyoman Dewa? Batuan, Bali. Even though the Dana is hard to read and the Bali has been cut off.

To see more images of this painting, please go to my I Nyoman Dewa page.

Made Suradar Sudarma

Two paintings found in the same auction July 2023. I cannot make out the signature on the oil painting (opposite). I can see it is signed Ubud, Bali. The ink on paper (below) under glass is signed twice!

NI Rinek, Ubud

Two paintings in one lot at auction. If I wanted one I had to take the other. Both signed , paint on board.

This one by NI Rinek, 84cm x 66cm.

I Made Tubuh and other small paintings

September 2023

6 small paintings acquired in one auction lot.

All are framed beautifully and one is clearly painted by “I Made Tubuh”. I have not removed the others from their frames to look for any the signatures.

I am happy that they are gorgeous little paintings and they complement the rest of my collection really well.

Wyan Sura, Tebesaya, Ubud, Bali

October 2023 and another beautiful Balinese painting shows up at my local auction. It only just fit in the back of the car, so it came home with me.

The detail in this painting is beautiful. Different again to my other Balinese collection, no reference to culture or mankind. Just beautiful birds in nature.

K Subagia Bongkasa Ubud Bali

November 2023

Two more paintings at my local auction, sold as a pair and described only as Indonesian paintings.

Both signed by the same artist and possibly painted in the early 2000s as both are framed in 2003.

Ketut Krinting Ubud Bali

December 2023

A group of small paintings on offer at the local auction house.

One turns out to be by a known artist, Ketut Krinting – a Postwar & Contemporary painter who was born in 1950.

Wayan Warsa 1945-, Ubud, Bali

January 2024, another beauty at the local auction house.

I will attribute this to Wyan Warsa, though I am not 100% sure.

The painting is in a beautiful hardwood frame and measures 67cm x 95cm.

Cremation Hindu Balinese painting

January 2024

This painting probably belongs in my Unsigned page, but I decided to give it a page of its own.

Large painting 190cm x 90cm, Circa 1980s

I Gusti Putu Sadri, 1930-1995

July 2023 & February 2024

Two paintings on board acquired separately.

80cm x 62cm.

64cm x 48cm.

N Mandra Peliatan Ubud Bali

February 2024

Purchased at local auction house, described as

“A Balinese ink painting on fabric depicting a lady

surrounded by mythical creatures. Signed lower

centre. 63 x 43cm”

Kamasan Ramayana Garuda painting

March 2024

Purchased at local auction house, unsigned, Kamasan, Bali Indonesia., described as

“A Kamasan Balinese framed ink on silk folk art piece depicting religious scenes. 79 x 75cm”

Another painting that probably should have gone to my Mysteries and miscellaneous paintings Bali, Indonesia.

Unsigned

Balinese Mysteries unknown artist and miscellaneous paintings drawings from Ubud, Klungkung, Kamasan, Bali, Indonesia.

Other paintings in my collection that are of unknown date and unknown artists.

To see images of these “other” Balinese paintings please visit my Mysteries and Miscellaneous page.

References:

Books: (these books are in my own collection)

Vickers, A. Ph.D. (2012). Balinese Art: Paintings and Drawings of Bali 1800 – 2010, Tuttle Publishing.

“Different from other writers on this traditional aspect of Balinese paintings, Vickers sets the tone in the very first sentence: Traditional painting in Bali is a living art (p. 68). Indeed it is. For one, it lingers on to this very day although it has lost much but certainly not all of its traditional usage. As with so many ‘traditions’ in Indonesia, it has never ended. We see in this country, and also in Bali, that traditions and modern currents happily exist side by side.” (PDF) Adrian Vickers, Balinese Art: Paintings and Drawings of Bali 1800-2010. Tokyo/Rutland, Vermont/Singapore: Tuttle, 2012, 256 pp. ISBN 9780804842488. Price: AUD 54.99 (hardback). (researchgate.net)

2. Forge, A. (1978). Balinese traditional paintings: a selection from the Forge Collection of the Australian Museum, Sydney. Sydney, Australian Museum.

” The study of the Kamasan paintings was an important part of Forge’s research and he obtained the assistance of several Kamasan artists, including Mangku Mura, Pan Seken and Nyoman Mandra. Forge’s primary informant was Mangku Mura and most of the commissioned artworks were produced by him and his family. Forge spent many evenings talking to and recording Mangku Mura’s explanations of the narratives and iconographic features of his paintings. “Anthony Forge: Research in Bali, Indonesia – The Australian Museum . Anthony Forge. (1929-1991)

3. Fischer.J. & Cooper. T (1998). The Folk Art Of Bali, The Narrative Tradition, Oxford University Press .

” The Folk Art of Bali focuses on the Balinese narrative tradition as represented in classic painting, in shadow puppets, in painting on glass, and in embroideries. This tradition includes the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics, Tantri stories, Jataka tales, and folklore. Most of the folk art depictions in this book have never been reproduced before. They demonstrate the aesthetic attraction, high skill, great diversity, and sacred significance of art in the past and present cultural life of Bali.”

Source: Publisher

4. Mann. Richard. I. (2006). Nyoman Gunarsa Museum of Classical Balinese Painting in collaboration with Gateway Books International .

5. Moerdowo.Prof. R.M. FRSA (1983) Reflections on Balinese Traditional and Modern Arts , Head of Department of Fine Arts, Udayana University, etc..

6. Fischer.Joseph (2004). Story cloths of Bali, Ten Speed Press .

For thousands of years, Balinese textile artists have adorned simple cloths with elaborate embroidered depictions of classic folk epics. As one of the many artistic expressions of Balinese culture, these colorful pieces offer insight into the tradition of storytelling in Bali while reminding us that ancient universal themes of morality, man versus nature, and the triumph over adversity can be just as significant today. In STORY CLOTHS OF BALI, Indonesian art expert Joseph Fischer shares his collection of more than 100 of these exquisite pieces alongside engaging text about how to utilize these textiles to study and appreciate traditional Balinese culture. The first major study of an unusual group of Balinese embroideries, STORY CLOTHS OF BALI is a fascinating glimpse into a culture rich…” Source: Publisher

7. Kam, Garrett. (1993) Perceptions of Paradise, Images of Bali in the Arts. Published to Commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the Neka Museum , Yayasan Dharma Seni Museum Neka.

“Analyzes different images of Bali in the arts by placing them in the broad cultural-historicalsetting of Bali. Beginning with an overview of Balinese artistic traditions, this book thenreevaluates the effects on creative expression caused by Western influences, changing attitudes towards painting, and cultural responses manifested in the visual arts.Nearly two dozen drawings and paintings representing over half a century of creativity by artists of different cultural backgrounds are examined in their fuller Balinese contexts. Photographs of actual ethnographic sources from Bali illustrate the continuum existing between traditional and modern artforms.This book is not only about painting; it is about knowing a culture through artistic expression, the forces which have shaped it, and how ideas are interwoven and repeated across various related disciplines. It will appeal to specialists and general readers alike.This book could be found at Komaneka Fine Art Gallery.”

Source Perceptions of Paradise – Komaneka Fine Art Gallery

8. Vickers, A. Ph.D. (2016) Balinese Painting and Sculpture: from the Krzysztof Musial Collection. Fundacja Polskiej Sztuki Nowoczesej Tuttle Publishing

“This beautifully photographed book of Balinese Painting and Sculpture is one of the most stunning collections of its type in the world.Collections usually grow out of interests, ones that come to border on obsession. Collecting art from Bali often begins with a love of the island itself, but can take different directions depending on the experiences we have there. The Krzysztof Musial Collection is one clearly based on encounters with the island and its culture, and from that basis the collector has accumulated works that are both new and old, representative of the known history of Balinese art, but also of the most recent developments in the style of Bali.The older styles of art were focused around areas of power, palaces and temples. Art was consumed by the competing Balinese kings, who strove to make their palaces the most beautiful and ornate on the island. Likewise these many kings, queens, lords and ladies dressed in the most lavish textiles, from imported Indian cloths to local home-spun products, many of which were woven in the palaces. Kings and priests were meant to be practiced in the arts themselves, and did their own carving and painting, but they also cultivated and supported great artists and craftsmen so that they would become their dependents. Most of the sculptors and painters were men, while women produced beautiful textiles and elaborate offerings. Since all Balinese communities are so closely tied to religious practice, temples are the focus of Balinese spiritual life, and the most important art should be there, for the gods to appreciate.”

Source: Balinese Painting and Sculpture (9788361785538) – Tuttle Publishing