Balinese sculptors at work, 1937–1938, B.A.G. Vroklage SVD, Wereldmuseum Amsterdam collection, under Creative Commons license (cropped image)
What is modern Balinese sculpture and why is it worth collecting?
Beyond Mass Production
A simple search for “Balinese statue” on a second-hand marketplace is enough to show how Balinese wood sculpture can give an impression of both abundance and discouraging monotony. How can one not feel a kind of vertigo in the face of repetition, in often rough execution, of the same models of busts, figures of deities, dancers, men or women depicted in everyday situations?
Resold when they no longer evoke the emotions of a past trip, or after being inherited from a family member, these objects inform us about how much of Balinese sculpture production has evolved since the early twentieth century to respond to growing tourism, which became massive from the 1970s onward. This adaptation involved satisfying visitors, most of whom wanted to bring home a souvenir whose primary qualities, before any artistic refinement, were to appear typical and not too expensive. This phenomenon continues today.
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But modern Balinese sculpture is not limited to this. To highlight what makes it interesting, it is necessary to say a few words about its history. For detailed and accurate information, one can refer to the excellent book by Koos van Brakel, Art Fallen From Heaven: Modern Balinese Sculpture (2022, LM Publishers). Here, I will stick to a few main points.
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A Forced Reorientation
The notion of art as the production of objects primarily intended for contemplation does not exist in Balinese tradition. Aesthetic dimension serves the creation of objects with a function. Working for the community and for the rulers, sculptors produce statues that serve as supports for keris, figures or reliefs intended to adorn the architecture of palaces, noble residences, or temples.
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Balinese sculptor working on a temple relief. Published in Bali: The Isle of the Gods (1957).
Between 1846 and 1908, the Dutch takeover of the Balinese kingdoms ended the rule of local sovereigns and the commissions they issued. While continuing to work for the community, sculptors were forced to redirect much of their production toward the tourist market, which began to develop in the early decades of the twentieth century. This shift was encouraged by Dutch colonial policy, which sought to present Bali as a showcase of supposedly peaceful colonization by promoting the image of an untouched paradise where culture and the arts flourished.
This new colonial framework affected the forms and uses in wood sculpture practice. There was a decline in polychromy, previously dominant in the tradition, and a reduction in the size of most pieces, which now had to fit in a suitcase. Taking into account the habits and tastes of tourists, mostly Western, led notably to an increase in representations of motifs or scenes from daily life. Sculptures were sold in Bali but also exported in large quantities abroad (especially to the Netherlands and the United States) via companies offering catalog models that Balinese sculptors reproduced on demand.
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The Decisive Role of Pita Maha
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In 1936, the association Pita Maha (a name that can be translated as “grandfather” or “great guide”) was founded by the dignitary Cokorda Gede Raka Sukawati, the sculptor, architect, and painter I Nyoman Lempad, and the painters Rudolf Bonnet (Dutch) and Walter Spies (German). Bringing together over 150 Balinese creators (draughtsmen, painters, woodcarvers and goldsmiths), Pita Maha greatly contributed to the development of modern Balinese sculpture. Its goal was to promote high-quality production while encouraging members to assert themselves as artists. Assemblies were held regularly, during which works were submitted for evaluation by a group of experienced creators, who selected the most remarkable pieces. These were then exhibited and sold at shows in Bali and abroad. The association ceased its activities in 1939.
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The impetus given by Pita Maha confirmed that modern Balinese sculpture could be far more than a souvenir to take home: an object intended for contemplation, capable of standing out both for its execution quality and the artistic vision it expressed. The addition of a signature naturally became more frequent. Major figures emerged: Ida Bagus Putu Taman, I Ketut Rodja, I Made Gerembuang, Ida Bagus Njana, I Nyoman Tjokot, to name just a few of the most renowned sculptors. Their creations, admired in Indonesia and abroad, sometimes define types that are later imitated and reproduced by others. More generally, many Balinese sculptures from the 1930s–1940s share characteristics linking them to the style called “Wayang,” or sometimes “Art Deco” (a designation that, however, is now disputed by some specialists).
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Man writing on a lontar leaf, before 1938, Wereldmuseum Amsterdam collection, under a Creative Commons license. A wayang-style sculpture attributed to I Made Gerembuang, a member of Pita Maha.
New Forms
After Indonesia’s independence in 1949, tourism continued to develop on the island, as did wood sculpture practice for visitors. Galleries were founded by masters. While reinterpreting motifs and types from tradition, sculptors relied on the foundations laid in the 1930s–1940s to engage in bold formal experimentation. From the 1950s onward, the elongated style and the rounded forms style invented by Ida Bagus Njana gave rise to countless variations. The style created by I Nyoman Tjokot was carried on by his descendants in what came to be known as 'Tjokotism.' As noted earlier, the second half of the twentieth century was also a period of mass production of inexpensive items aimed at tourists.
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A Reassessment
In this context of mass production, modern Balinese sculpture shows highly variable levels of ambition and quality. The serious collector focuses on creations that, through their uniqueness and finesse of execution, stand out from production intended primarily for commercial purposes.
But if these pieces are now sought after by collectors, what is their place in museums? Well represented in Indonesian public collections (Puri Lukisan Museum, Neka Museum, Museum Nasional Indonesia), modern Balinese sculpture seems largely absent from Western museums, with a few exceptions such as the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam and the Weltmuseum in Vienna. In France in particular, it still appears to suffer from the almost exclusive perception of a commercially driven production catering to the tastes of undemanding tourists.
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This judgment, however, is hasty and unfair. Many modern Balinese sculptures were appreciated for their artistic qualities by cultivated travelers and collectors as early as the 1930s. Above all, the strength of modern Balinese sculpture lies precisely in its ability to build upon constraints initially imposed by colonization to assert an authentic creative dynamic beyond the mass-produced commonplace. The best modern Balinese sculptures are not mechanically subservient to Western taste. They testify to the ways in which a people, starting from an imposed context, managed to preserve and renew their culture. Viewed in this light, the informed collector contributes—especially in the West—to rebalancing the perspective on certain non-Western productions and on the conditions under which they deserve to be recognized as works of art.