Indonesian Fine Art
Interior of the collector of lots 50 - 59 by Le Mayeur, in Singapore, circa 1937. Lot 59 is hanging on the wall on the right.
After a brief earlier visit to Bali, Le Mayeur was so enchanted by the island that in 1932 he decided to return and stay there for several years. He settled in Kelandis, a village just outside Denpasar. There, a local dance troupe regularly performed, which included the lelong dancers Ni Pollok and Ni Reneng. Captivated by their beauty, he chose these dancers as his models and immediately began working. Le Mayeur then moved to a small house in Sanur. The atmosphere of Bali - the people, the lush flora, the beach, the sea, all bathed in radiant sunlight - gave the entire island an artistic aura that served as his source of inspiration. The painter preferred working outdoors rather than in a studio. After eight months, in February 1933, he held his first exhibition in Singapore, at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YMCA) on Raffles Quay. Thirty paintings and pastels with exotic titles were displayed, and the exhibition proved to be a great success. Europeans and Americans, as well as Singaporean residents, eagerly bought his works. Encouraged by this success, Le Mayeur decided to remain in Bali to prepare a new exhibition, for which Ni Pollok and other models posed once again. After the second exhibition, in March 1935, the painter and Ni Pollok - whose full name was Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik (1917–1985) - decided to share their lives together and were married in accordance with the Balinese Adat, a semi-official local tradition. After their marriage, they built a small house directly on the beach in Sanur. In February 1937, the third ‘Exhibition of Bali Paintings by A.J. Le Mayeur’ was held in the YMCA building in Singapore. Pollok accompanied Le Mayeur - her first time leaving Bali. She graced the opening with her interpretations of the Lèlong and Djagang dances, accompanied by her nephew Ketjong, who played the gamelan. Around seventy
paintings, pastels, and sketches were exhibited. The exhibitions were more successful than Le Mayeur had ever dared to dream. As a result, he was able to further decorate his Sanur home to his taste - filling the garden with abundant plants, small temples, ponds with lotus flowers, and numerous Hindu statues - all in service of his art. The artist welcomed many visitors, some of whom purchased works directly from him. His final exhibition at the YMCA building took place in May 1941, before the Japanese occupation. Half of the proceeds were donated to the War Fund, a generous gesture. Source: J. Ubbens, C. Huizing ‘Adrien-Jean le Mayeur de Merprés, Painter-Traveller / Schilder-reiziger’, Wijk en Aalburg 1995. Dating Le Mayeur’s pastels, gouaches, and watercolours is often challenging. The collector of the ten lots by Le Mayeur now offered at auction lived and worked in Singapore in the mid-1930s. As a passionate collector of Asian art and paintings, he frequently travelled from Singapore to the Dutch East Indies - visiting Java, Bali, and Lombok - and most likely also visited Le Mayeur’s studio in Sanur. In 1938 or 1939 he departed for Europe to take up a new position. These ten works were therefore certainly created before 1939. Among the possessions found in his estate was an original page from The Straits Times, Singapore, dated Saturday, February 27, 1937, announcing the exhibition at the YMCA building on Raffles Quay, as well as the performance by Ni Pollok and her nephew at the charity ball in the Volunteer Drill Hall. It is highly probable that he attended this exhibition, and that he acquired one or more of the lots now being auctioned either at the 1937 exhibition in Singapore or directly from the artist in Sanur.
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