I Wayan Kabetan (Indonesian, 1931-2006) River Scene and Dance: Two Works The first, gouache on paper; the second, ink, wash and gouache on paper; each apparently in good condition. Each framed.* The first, apparently unsigned; the second, signed Wj Kabetan and located Pakistan l.r.
1000, I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), I Butterflies; II Goddess of Knowledge, gouache on paper, unframed (2), 25x37 cm and 28x24 cm, signed and annotated 'Wy. Kabetan / Batuan. Bali' (resp. lower right and lower left); dated I: '1983' and II: '23-4-80' (on the reverse), Provenance: -Estate of the artist.
2500, I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), The hell of Bali, goauche on paper, unframed, 46x61 cm, signed and annotated 'Wayan. Kabetan. / Batuan. Bali' (lower left), Provenance: -Estate of the artist.
700, I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), Sea life, gouache on paper, unframed, 26x55,5 cm, signed and annotated 'Wy. Kabetan / Batuan. Bali' (lower right), Provenance: -Estate of the artist.
1200, I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), Rafting on the river, gouache on paper, unframed, 35,5x27 cm, signed and annotated 'Wy. Kabetan / Batuan Bali' (lower right), Provenance: -Estate of the artist.
700, I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), Forest nymph with a monkey, butterflies and other animals in the jungle, gouache on paper, unframed, 50x20 cm, indistinctly signed and annotated 'Wy. Kabetan / Batuan Bali' (lower right); signed, annotated and dated 'Wy. Kabetan / Batuan Bali / th:1981' (written on the reverse), Together with another work by I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), A Balinese dancer, signed and annotated 'Wj. Kabetan / Batuan Bali' (lower right); dated '3-3-2000' (on the reverse), ink on paper, unframed, 41x30 cm I Wayan Kabetan (1931 – 2006) was an autodidact. Although his father was a close relative of I Nyoman Ngendon (d. 1946/7) and I Patera (d. 1935), both were deceased before he could have apprenticed with them. Nonetheless, Kabetan was inspired by both of these artists to compose novel works rather than just copying the old or prevalent traditions. His composition is unique, and nothing similar was produced before him. The collection of seven paintings offered in this auction, came directly from the estate of the artist and bear firsthand witness to his new and unique compositions. Throughout his career, his output was quite limited, making this a rare opportunity for any serious collector of Balinese art. Kebetan sometimes reworked a theme several times, either due to its popularity, or an attempt to master a new angle or perspective in depicting the scene or story. The Legong dancer (dated 2000, part of lot 100), is one example, with the oldest known version made in 1968 on canvas. Another example is the Nymph in the Forest, (black and white, dated 1981 and part of lot 100). A similar version in colour was produced in 1987. Rafting on the River (lot 101) is an extraordinary rendition of tourists’ activity on a river in Bali. With a raft capsized at the foreground, another boat is trying hard to avoid a collision, while the two boats behind them are preparing to do the same. All of this takes place under the watch of a group of monkeys: some hanging on a tree at the top right, and a group of four at the riverbank on the upper left. At the bottom left a mother monkey is trying to save her baby from a snake, while a woman, holding a ladder for her coconut collecting husband, watches. Everywhere: birds, fish and other small creatures go about their business. These are the commotions depicted masterfully by Kabetan… what a riot! Sea life (lot 102) shows the imagination of this inventive painter. Batuan is located rather far away from the sea. But it does not stop Kabetan from painting the myriad life beneath the ocean. Most Balinese are afraid of the sea, as they believe the ocean is the realm of evil spirits. Their fear is not unfounded: as the ocean waves in the south of Bali can be treacherous and there is also the danger of sharks. The main actors in this drawing are two large fish or eels with gaping jaws facing each other and ready to fight for the fish on the bottom of the seafloor. Unlike the cacophony of rafting on the river, the hunt at the ocean depths is slow, quiet, and seemingly peaceful. Balinese Hell (lot 103) is the largest drawing (46x61cm) and depicts Karma Pala, the law of cause and effect. Here the setting is a village, as opposed to the standard depiction of Balinese Hell in the underworld. It’s as if Kabetan is reminding us that the principal of “reaping what you sow” also applies to life in the present. The journey in the afterlife begins with meeting Suratman, the great judge, shown here sitting at a gazebo at the top left, reading lontars recording the deeds and ills during our lifetime. At the center is a huge copper cauldron boiling 12 men and women. Three guards of the underworld surround it: one stirring the pot, another forcefully carrying a man to his fate, and a third holding a large mallet ready to strike anyone who tries to escape. At the top center lies a tree covered with Krises (Balinese daggers). Under the command of a guard on the tree, the krises fall and hit the head of the souls below. All of this is supervised by the four-armed God (Siwa) shown residing at the temple on the right side of the Kris Tree. Peter Soemantri Widagdo, Provenance: -Estate of the artist.
I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), The island of Bali, signed and annotated 'Wy. Kabetan. Batuan. Bali' (lower right), watercolour on paper, 34x47 cm, Provenance: -Collection of the late Joop Steenbeek (1919-2013), co-founder of The Rudolf Bonnet Foundation, thence by descent to the present owner.
I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006), How the Pangolins became king of the forest, signed and annotated 'Wy. Kabetan. Batuan. Bali.' (lower right), watercolour on paper, 34,5x22 cm, Provenance: -Collection of the late Joop Steenbeek (1919-2013), co-founder of The Rudolf Bonnet Foundation, thence by descent to the present owner. Introduction to the Collection of Joop Steenbeek (1919 – 2013) Lots 142-149 (18 November) and lots 700-715 (19 November) Rudolf Bonnet (1895-1978) and Walter Spies (1895-1942) are often credited as the two foreign artists who introduced modernism and caused the explosion of creativity that revolutionized Balinese Art. This artistic transformation was first recognized in the late 1920s, peaked in the mid 1930s and went on well into the late 1930s or even the early 1940s, up until the Japanese Occupation in 1942. The Pita Maha Artist’s Association was founded in 1936 by Bonnet, Spies, the members of royal houses of Ubud and Peliatan, and the artist, I Goesti Njoman Lempad (c. 1862-1978) in order to further promote the development of modern Balinese Art. After Spies died in 1942 and the abandonment of Pita Maha in 1940, Bonnet carried on this effort and pursued the establishment of the first art museum in Bali, the Museum Puri Lukisan in 1956. Lempad, Bonnet and Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati all died close together in time, and in fact, Bonnet’s ashes were brought to Bali and re-cremated at the royal cremation ceremony of his friend, the last King of Ubud, Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati (1910-1978). It was after this cremation ceremony that Flip Hammers, Joop Steenbeek (1919-2013) and Zweder Schoute met with the Batuan artists, who asked them for help to continue Bonnet’s efforts and dream to support them. (1*). During this meeting, they conceived the idea for the Rudolf Bonnet Foundation (Stichting Rudolf Bonnet), which was established in 1982 with founding members Flip Hamers as the chairman, Joop Steenbeek as the secretary and Zweder Schoute as the treasurer. From 1980 to 1982 they collected donations from the friends of Bonnet to purchase paintings from Batuan and other regions of Bali with the idea of mounting an exhibition in the Netherlands and selling the works of art during the exhibition. The Bonnet foundation continued to promote and sell Balinese paintings in the Netherlands. In Bali, they worked with I Wayan Radjin (1945-2000) and Anak Agung Ngurah Muning (b. circa 1930), curator of the Museum Puri Lukisan who helped the foundation to find, select and recommend paintings to be exhibited in the Netherlands. Muning was well acquainted with Bonnet and worked with him from before the opening of the Museum in 1956. The Joop Steenbeek collection of about sixty-two drawings is a time capsule, recording the state of the Batuan painting tradition in the early 1980s, just after the death of Bonnet, their main patron. Marijke Steenbeek recounted how her father had collected these Balinese drawings: “Both my father and Flip Hammers were great admirers of Balinese artists’ paintings. They were impressed by Rudolf Bonnet’s efforts to promote Balinese art. Joop visited various studios in Batuan and Ubud, which included among others, I Made Tubuh’s studio where he bought the gouache, ‘The Royal Cremation’. This intricate work marked the beginning of his Batuan art collection. During this same trip he also bought ‘The Island of Bali', a gouache depicting the islanders’ day-to-day activities. Both this painting and ‘How the Pangolins became King of the Forest’, a beautifully painted fable, were painted by I Wayan Kabetan. Many other works soon followed, from artists such as I Made Djata (‘The Tooth Filing Ceremony’) , I Made Budi (‘Abimanyu Caught in the Act’), I Wayan Rajin (‘Lud Lud, The Magic Bird’) and two works made by one of the few female Balinese artists, I Gusti Ayu Natih Arimini, who is the sister of the equally-talented, I Gusti Ngurah Muryasa.” There are gems among the Joop Steenbeek Collection including two rare and rather large drawings by I Wayan Kabetan (1931-2006): The Island of Bali (Lot 144) and How the Pangolins became the King of the Forest (Lot 142). While the “The island of Bali” depicts every-day life on the island, the second, interestingly, is based on a tantri story (fable), in which the ant-eating Pangolins call for a meeting, and surrounded by different animals, assume the role of King of the Jungle, and unite all the animals. This story is a metaphor about the courage of an unexpected and unassuming individual to unite others and take the lead for a common cause. One of the works (Lots 148) in the collection is done by key leader of the Batuan painters: I Made Djata (1920-2001) and five works (145, 710, 702, 703 and 707) are by his son, the other key leader, I Wayan Radjin (1945-2000). Djata and Radjin became teachers for many younger Batuan artists, including I Made Tubuh (b. 1942) (Lots 143, 147 and 709, 710 and 715) and I Ketut Murtika (1952-2019) (lot 711), whose drawings are also represented in this collection. Djata emphasized the mastery of the Batuan technique that became the hallmark of the Djata School. Of paramount importance were the precision of the drawings, the composition and the color scheme, while innovation and originality were secondary. Worth noting are two small drawings by I Wayan Bendi (1950-2020) offered on the 19 November auction (lot 700). Bendi studied Batuan painting tradition with his father, I Taweng (1929-2004) and his uncle I Tomblos (1922-2009). As students of the Ngendon School, innovation and originality of composition and subject matter were their primary interest. During the early development of modern Balinese painting in the 1930s, Rudolf Bonnet, through the Pita Maha Artists’ Association, dictated that the Balinese artists paint idyllic life. They were discouraged from depicting the everyday life of the Balinese, as they experienced it during the colonial period and in the midst of the first wave of tourism into Bali. In these two drawings, Bendi went against this convention and included the activities of the tourists intermingled with the activities of the Balinese, a style that had been introduced by an older painter, I Made Budi (1932-2017) (lot 149). 1* As recounted by Zweder Schoute at a meeting in Leiden on 26 Feb 2019. November 18 auction room sale, lots 142 to 149 November 19 online-only sale, lots 700 to 715,
