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Lot Essay
"There are three things in life that I love. Beauty, sunlight and silence. Now could you tell me where to find these in a more perfect state than in Bali?"
Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès
Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès epitomises the free spirited icon of the early 20th century painter-traveller, who roamed the world seeking artistic inspiration. Le Mayeur sought to follow the legacy of French impressionist Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), travelling to Tahiti and French Polynesia in search of utopia. However too many had walked in Gauguin's footsteps and Tahiti was no longer the untrammelled vista lauded by Gauguin. It was finally within the lush tropical island of Bali where Le Mayeur discovered his own artistic paradise, where he settled to live and paint for the next twenty-six years.
One of his major inspirations and influences during this period was a graceful legong dancer, Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik (1917-1985), who became his wife and painting model for over two decades. Their partnership was one forged under their mutual understanding of each other's pursuit of aesthetic perfection. Ni Pollok chose an unconventional marriage with Le Mayeur so that she could continue to celebrate her performing art, instead of entering a traditional union where she would have to stop dancing and bear children. Le Mayeur married the young Pollok in order to liberate her from village customs and to retain her as his muse.
Ni Pollok occupies a special place in Le Mayeur's painting and his life as wife, sitter and muse. Yet unlike other famous artistic pairings, such as Gustav and Alma Mahler or Picasso and Dora Maar, the relationship between them was not stormy or unhappy in spite of the artistic burden shared by both. Instead, the relationship between painter and model has never been closer and more faithful. In his oeuvre, Le Mayeur rendered countless impressions of Ni Pollok, in what have become the classic archetypal poses which define a Le Mayeur artwork. For instance the standing women with upstretched arms here in Preparing Offerings (Lot 32), carrying the banten or traditional Balinese offerings above their heads, is a posture commonly portrayed by Le Mayeur. In other paintings, the women strike elaborate poses drawn from the classical Balinese dance form, occasionally wearing the garuda-wings as part of their dramatic outfits. Le Mayeur freely interpreted the human anatomy; oftentimes, he exaggerates the dancers' limbs and the possible contortions of the human figure. Yet, Le Mayeur always rendered his portraits of Ni Pollok with a superlative elegance and grace, augmenting her role in his life as within Preparing Offerings, a viewer is treated to possibly one of the finest paintings within Le Mayeur's oeuvre. This is an outstanding composition bearing the luminous, verdant richness characteristic of the artist's post WWII works. The paintings of this period are particularly strong in glowing tropical colours, as though Le Mayeur was invigorated by the climate of peacetime and fell in love again with his beloved Bali. Preparing Offerings is imbued with tones of warm green, red, and pink within the tropical fauna and colorful native garb of the dancers, while yellow and orange spangled rays of light beam through Le Mayeur's sun-drenched Sanur garden, where most of his painting scenes took place. The interplay of light and shade, and thickly applied impasto to convey a dynamic sense of visual texture render this work as an Impressionistic masterpiece, executed through Le Mayeur's iconic style.
Preparing Offerings also exemplifies Le Mayeur's perfect awareness of perspective and pictorial balance. At the centre of the scene, Ni Pollok and a second dancer are depicted carrying the banten as they prepare to join in the ritualistic procession to the village temple. They are the focal points for the composition as the subject matter is Le Mayeur's exploration of the enduring devotion and faith found within the Hindu island of Bali. However around this central axis, other dancers are posed as visual counterweight. To the left, two dancers strike identical poses, bending from the waist as though swaying in the breeze together with the bougainvillea boughs. To the right and at the base, dancers crouch to gather flowers off the garden floor, yet in doing so they also avoid the slanting beams of sunlight which Le Mayeur uses to illuminate the entire composition. Le Mayeur's mastery of execution is a defining feature, particularly within his later works which reflected his inner calmness and peace of mind, as he lived out his remaining years in the Balinese home that he loved above all other.
Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès
Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès epitomises the free spirited icon of the early 20th century painter-traveller, who roamed the world seeking artistic inspiration. Le Mayeur sought to follow the legacy of French impressionist Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), travelling to Tahiti and French Polynesia in search of utopia. However too many had walked in Gauguin's footsteps and Tahiti was no longer the untrammelled vista lauded by Gauguin. It was finally within the lush tropical island of Bali where Le Mayeur discovered his own artistic paradise, where he settled to live and paint for the next twenty-six years.
One of his major inspirations and influences during this period was a graceful legong dancer, Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik (1917-1985), who became his wife and painting model for over two decades. Their partnership was one forged under their mutual understanding of each other's pursuit of aesthetic perfection. Ni Pollok chose an unconventional marriage with Le Mayeur so that she could continue to celebrate her performing art, instead of entering a traditional union where she would have to stop dancing and bear children. Le Mayeur married the young Pollok in order to liberate her from village customs and to retain her as his muse.
Ni Pollok occupies a special place in Le Mayeur's painting and his life as wife, sitter and muse. Yet unlike other famous artistic pairings, such as Gustav and Alma Mahler or Picasso and Dora Maar, the relationship between them was not stormy or unhappy in spite of the artistic burden shared by both. Instead, the relationship between painter and model has never been closer and more faithful. In his oeuvre, Le Mayeur rendered countless impressions of Ni Pollok, in what have become the classic archetypal poses which define a Le Mayeur artwork. For instance the standing women with upstretched arms here in Preparing Offerings (Lot 32), carrying the banten or traditional Balinese offerings above their heads, is a posture commonly portrayed by Le Mayeur. In other paintings, the women strike elaborate poses drawn from the classical Balinese dance form, occasionally wearing the garuda-wings as part of their dramatic outfits. Le Mayeur freely interpreted the human anatomy; oftentimes, he exaggerates the dancers' limbs and the possible contortions of the human figure. Yet, Le Mayeur always rendered his portraits of Ni Pollok with a superlative elegance and grace, augmenting her role in his life as within Preparing Offerings, a viewer is treated to possibly one of the finest paintings within Le Mayeur's oeuvre. This is an outstanding composition bearing the luminous, verdant richness characteristic of the artist's post WWII works. The paintings of this period are particularly strong in glowing tropical colours, as though Le Mayeur was invigorated by the climate of peacetime and fell in love again with his beloved Bali. Preparing Offerings is imbued with tones of warm green, red, and pink within the tropical fauna and colorful native garb of the dancers, while yellow and orange spangled rays of light beam through Le Mayeur's sun-drenched Sanur garden, where most of his painting scenes took place. The interplay of light and shade, and thickly applied impasto to convey a dynamic sense of visual texture render this work as an Impressionistic masterpiece, executed through Le Mayeur's iconic style.
Preparing Offerings also exemplifies Le Mayeur's perfect awareness of perspective and pictorial balance. At the centre of the scene, Ni Pollok and a second dancer are depicted carrying the banten as they prepare to join in the ritualistic procession to the village temple. They are the focal points for the composition as the subject matter is Le Mayeur's exploration of the enduring devotion and faith found within the Hindu island of Bali. However around this central axis, other dancers are posed as visual counterweight. To the left, two dancers strike identical poses, bending from the waist as though swaying in the breeze together with the bougainvillea boughs. To the right and at the base, dancers crouch to gather flowers off the garden floor, yet in doing so they also avoid the slanting beams of sunlight which Le Mayeur uses to illuminate the entire composition. Le Mayeur's mastery of execution is a defining feature, particularly within his later works which reflected his inner calmness and peace of mind, as he lived out his remaining years in the Balinese home that he loved above all other.