Indonesian Fine Art
Rudolf Bonnet is renowned for his clear and refined aesthetic drawing style, encompassing landscapes and cityscapes, but above all figure studies and portraits. ‘There were such beautiful people there’ is a well-known remark by Bonnet, referring not only to his models in Bali, but also to those in Italy, particularly in the region around Anticoli Corrado. The inhabitants of both Anticoli and its surroundings, as well as those of Bali, were immortalised by him during the two decades preceding the Second World War. Following his forced departure from Bali by President Soekarna in 1957 a new artistic period was about to start. He turned to Italy (lot 402, 404, 405, 406, 407 and 408) and Tunisia (lot 409) as new sources of inspiration. From 1973 onwards, Bonnet was once again able to return on a regular basis to his beloved Bali. Up to the last years of his life, Bonnet continued his regular travels to Indonesia, always bringing back new work when coming home to Laren. The drawing of a young Balinese man in this sale, dated 1973 (lot 401) must have been executed during one of these journeys, the last of them being in 1977, when he was honoured with the golden art medal Dharma Kusuma, awarded to him by Mr Sukarmen, Governor of Bali (lot 410).
Bonnet was a key figure in the development of modern Balinese art, but above all he played a leading role in shaping the Western image of Bali that still persists today.
Source: Dr. H. de Roever-Bonnet, Rudolf Bonnet Een zondagskind - Zijn leven en zijn werk, Wijk en Aalburg 1991
401 Rudolf Bonnet (1895-1978) Portrait of young Balinese man signed, dated and annotated ‘ “Madé”, Bali
153
1973/R. Bonnet’ (lower right) pastel on paper, 54x30,5 cm
€4,000 - €6,000
Provenance: -Collection of Carel Jean Bonnet (1921-2003), thence by descent to the present owners.
402 Rudolf Bonnet (1895-1978) Portrait of a young man from Siracusa, Sicily signed ‘R. Bonnet’ (upper right); annotated and dated ‘”Siciliano”/Sicarucsa 46’ (upper left) pastel on paper, 43,5x37,5 cm
€1,500 - €2,000
Provenance: -Collection of Carel Jean Bonnet (1921-2003), thence by descent to the present owners.
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