Pita Maha introduction

Thank you all for the kind welcome.

I am so excited to be a part of this group and meet fellow patriots of the arts.

It is a great pleasure to see and discuss art.

I live on Bali in a little village near Mas and Batuan where many Pita Maha artists lived, as you know, these talented artists come from a family line of artists, with many still following their parents lineage, they actually live in Balinese family compounds that have nor changed much over the last several generations so one can experience an authentic nostalgic when visiting these artist families.

I am on an adventure to discover learn and collect pieces from the Pita Maha era 1930 to the 1970.

I have been collecting art for well over 25 years and have acquired a large collection of both ethnographic tribal material and post work war 2.

My interest in collecting Pita Maha Art Deco pieces was ignited after visiting several Museums.

I believe the seed was actually sown when I saw a picture of JFK and Sukarno.

On a recent visit to Java, we visited the air force Museum in Jogya, it is filled with aircraft from the 1930s to the one that I found to be most interesting,,,,yes its was a gift from JFK to Sukarno, so that Sukarno could attend Diplomatic meetings in Asia.

I look forward to discussing and sharing my experience along with yours.

Sincerely
Rene

 

Welcome..........sorry to hear about the trouble in Lombok.
U seem passionate about your local artisans ...so when you have a moment ...if you see any of these.....



could you get those artists to stop carving them...please.....

 

Welcome again, Rene. You live in a beautiful part of the world.

I feel with this third welcome we have to offer you a selamatan*. You probably have a different word for it in Balinese, but you know what I mean.
I am a Dutch descendant of the Tjakraningrat/Cakraningrat family of Madura, so I grew up with an interest in Indonesia and its art.
I collect the same era Balinese Art Deco as you do. Although we have many good pieces here in the Netherlands, prices here are probably higher than in Bali. With my income I have to hunt for the bargains, which are still to be found occasionally.

I tried to find one with a connection to Bali Art Deco, but couldn't. There were many of JFK and Sukarno together, both presidents knew PR and how to work with the press. I also came across this one with Marilyn Monroe, two charmers:


Can you recommend any books specifically on Bali Art Deco? I have only one, written by the Dutch-Indonesian collector Frans Leidelmeijer. I know it was also sold in Indonesia, so you may have come across it.

(*ceremonial celebratory meal in honour of a special occasion, also tradition and ancestors.)

 

Welcome to Antiquers Rene!

 

Greetings, Rene!

 

WELCOME Rene !!! ... Joy.

 

Ha ha , yes they have been making these for the last 5 years,,,,, they were popular a fews years ago but now I don't see them,,, the market is flooded with these copies, I saw that they were even making African masks,,, some very nicely carved.
these were made a a result of westerners making orders for the trade..... you can easily spot a copy.

 

Oh , can you now ?
I've been tracking these copies since the late 90's....and some are very very good...but lately a new crop has appeared that has even me doing double and triple takes......

 

Thanks so Much Any Jewelry,
I am delighted to meet you.
I was in Java with my family vacationing last month and managed to spend a few days In Madura, the last time that I was there was about 20 years ago.
I just found an interesting book at Periplus book store called Balinese painting and sculpture by Adrien Vickers,,,,, it was published last year,,,, it has some fine examples of the Pita Maya group and Batuan Artist, who I have become quite fond of... I love I made Budi, Ida Bagus Made Tolog, and many others.

 

Welcome Rene. I was in Bali just a couple of months ago and discovered several really wonderful art galleries in Ubud that I had not seen before.
Some of the paintings from the 50's and 60's are quite beautiful and I notice they are now commanding high prices around the world. I recently bought 2 early paintings from the 70's which I love and I am just having a small painting on paper framed. The artist Kantot Suarbawa, receives a 0% interest funding grant for his business with the help of National Geographic.
I'll definitely look at the book you recommended.
Good luck with your collecting.

 

Thanks you Dudragon,
It is amazing that the world is just now taking an great interest in these artists,,, perhaps du in part to recent books being published and the auction house selling so well, also perhaps the passing of Ari Smit in 2016 which encouraged the market to look at his extensive biography spanding over the last decade, yes he was just a few days shy of his 100th birthday, friends with Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet so he played an important roll in the art movement.

 

I just acquired a beautiful Art Deco Balinese carving with a stamp on the bottom,,, in black that indicated the following,,,,,Bali S.S.S Netherlands East-India
can any one shed some light on this? is it an indication that the piece would have been carved before world war 2?

 

I just acquired a beautiful Art Deco Balinese carving with a stamp on the bottom,,, in black that indicated the following,,,,,Bali S.S.S Netherlands East-India
can any one shed some light on this? is it an indication that the piece would have been carved before world war 2?

 

oh incidentally I found a picture of Rudolf Bonnet and Sukarno,,, Sukarno purchase 14 of his works. He was expelled from Indonesia in 1957 after he refused to finish a portrait of President Soekarno he was able to return 15 years later. this is a nice connection with the Pita Maha group

 

Possibly, do you have a photo of the stamp. And of the piece, so we can see the style?
This will help when posting a picture, and please click on 'full image':
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/posting-a-thread-and-uploading-pictures.15990/

Someone on the forum recommended this site to resize if your pictures are too big:
http://webresizer.com/resizer/

 

I am not computer savvy,,, I can send you pics on my email... it is

 

I have seen this style stamp in black ink, sometimes it is followed by s.s.s.,,, I am looking at one now on google picture that indicates,,, Bali Netherland-india S.S.S with a number 733. I believe it to have been made pre war, but not sure>

 

Oops, rene, you'd better remove your email address. This is an open forum.

 

Rene, I just sent you a mail, you can remove your email address from your post.

 

Rene's photos.
Rene, I hope I got them in the right order. They are gorgeous, I really love the last bookend, and the Ida Bagus Putu Taman statue which is also your avatar picture.

The stamp is not an official stamp, but probably a collector's mark.









I will post the pictures of the houses tomorrow, it is getting late here.