The impressionist works of Indo-European artist Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprs recreate the idyllic island setting of Bali as the Polynesia of the East. By the Beach (Lot 156) is a superb example of Le Mayeur's ability to capture the warm, tropical atmosphere of a fine Balinese day, along with the enchanting scene on the beach during a local festival. Despite its smaller, intimate scale, the work is visually complete and balanced; displaying clusters of earth-toned dynamic figures, a clear, rosy-hued sky tinged with creamy blue, and the horizon of the ocean receding into the background. By the Beach was most likely painted within Le Mayeur's early Balinese period, bearing close compositional and colour palette similarities to his other pre-war works. During this time, Le Mayeur often worked outdoors whenever there was an opportunity to soak up the local ambiance, such as Balinese market or feast days which attracted a traditionally garbed crowd to a single location. The small size of By the Beach makes it highly possible that the whole canvas was painted plein-air, on site at the beach festival. The features of the graceful female figures are still indistinct, where in his later works they would take on the chiseled features of his wife, Ni Pollok, as Le Mayeur gradually moved on to interior or domestic scenes set within his Saner house and garden.

"The first period [until 1937] is characterized by an approach to paint which is less thick, and has a more transparent, draughts man like execution than that which follows. In this period he also creates some multi-figure pieces, for instance market and temple scenes. It is a very free, expressionist periodK. An intense and subtle use of colour combination with sparkling light remains his main force. Although his work depicts daily life in Bali, he is still an exponent of late European impressionism, which favours a gentle, earthy palette of yellow, brown, beige and soft blue which is contrasted to red, pink, orange and purple accents." (Drs. Job Ubbens and Cathinka Huizing)

The visual structure in By the Beach highlights the crowded foreground, using a circular perspective which culminates in the central stretch of sun-lit sand. Spatially empty, it creates the illusion of a far larger, more expansive canvas. The immediate activity is vividly and dynamically described, with a rich variety of detail and gestural quality. This is contrasted with Le Mayeur's technique of thinly layering pastel shades to create pictorial depth within the background, imbuing By the Beach with a shimmering, mirage-like quality.