THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 189

Boasting the island's most comprehensive collection of paintings from across Bali's various
artistic styles, the Neka Art Museum is housed in a series of pavilions alongside the main
Campuhan/Sanggingan road. English-language labels are posted beside the paintings, with
Balinese, expatriate and visiting artists all represented. The museum shop sells a couple of
recommended books about the collection, notably Neka Art Museum: The Heart of Art in
Bali by Suteja Neka and Garrett Kam, which is essentially a catalogue of the highlights of the
collection and Perceptions of Paradise: Images of Bali in the Arts by Garrett Kam.
First Pavilion: Balinese Painting Hall
The first pavilion surveys the three major schools of Balinese painting from the seventeenth
century to the present day. The collection opens with examples of the Kamasan style , in-
cluding work from contemporary Kamasan artists such as Ida Bagus Rai in Rajapala Steals
Sulasih's Clothes and The Pandawa Brothers in Disguise , in which classical elements are
fused with a more modern sensuality. These are followed by works representing the Ubud
style , including The Bumblebee Dance by Anak Agung Gede Sobrat . Finally come the dark
and densely packed Batuan-style canvases, including the dramatic Busy Bali by I Wayan
Bendi , which delineates the effect of tourism on the island, and I Made Budi 's 1987 work,
President Suharto and his Wife Visit Bali .
Second Pavilion: Arie Smit Pavilion
The top floor of the second pavilion is devoted to the hugely influential Dutch expatriate artist
Arie Smit . His work is instantly recognizable by the bold, expressionist tone; many of the
paintings, including A Tropical Garden By the Sea , have a breathtakingly beautiful Cézanne-
like quality.
The ground-floor hall is given over to contemporary Balinese art , which includes expres-
sionist, figurative and abstract works - a clear indication of the vibrancy of modern art on the
island. The styles range widely from the huge abstract canvases of I Made Sumadiyasa to the
unsettling wooden sculptures of I Made Supena.
Third Pavilion: Photography Archive Center
The third pavilion houses an archive of black-and-white photographs from Bali in the 1930s
and 1940s, taken by the American Robert Koke . He and his wife Louise founded the first
hotel in Kuta in 1936. His photographic record includes village scenes, temple festivals and
cremations, but its highlights are the pictures of the dance performances and the portraits of
the Kebyar dancer Mario and of the Kecak choreographer I Wayan Limbak. The photos are
labelled with extracts from Louise Koke's book Our Hotel in Bali .
Fourth Pavilion: Lempad Pavilion
The late I Gusti Nyoman Lempad is the subject of the fourth pavilion, which holds the
largest collection of his pictures in Bali. Among his best-known works is a series on Men
and Pan Brayut , the well-known folk story about a poor couple and their eighteen children.