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Lot Essay
Between 1932 - 58, Le Mayeur devised variation after variation of the Balinese garden's composition, altering the arrangement of the blossoms, increasing or reducing the amount of reflected material or the graceful dancing Balinese girls and exploring a wide array of lighting effects.
In his house on the beach of Sanur, he has created a perfect source of artistic inspiration for his works where he could be constantly moved to paint. 'Now that my exhibitions turned out to be a bigger success that I had ever dared hope, I organized my house exactly as I liked it. I intended to surround myself with nothing but beauty. I employed five house servants for Pollok... . A couchman, a gardener, two kitchen maids and a chambermaid. Of course I have picked them myself and they were very beautiful girls in the first place. I didn't want them to be primarily servants. I wanted to have friends around us who took pleasure in their jobs. I forbade them to work in the late afternoon, during those hours I wanted them to sit around in their beautiful sarong, weaving the fabrics." (Jop Ubbens and Cathinka Huizing, Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprhs: Painter-Traveller 1880-1958, Pictures Publishers, The Netherlands, 1995, p. 119).
Le Mayeur maintained his focus, more or less, on the same motif for his works from the Balinese period. His preoccupations with the light as an impressionist finds the best expression with his portrayal of the stream of light weaving through the tangle of foliage, sitters, lotus pond etc, and finds its way to the multiple surfaces of glistening reflection.
The present lot contains all the quintessential elements of a work by Le Mayeur. The diligent portrayal of both material and ethereal beauty of his subjects renders such a tight composition that it is almost a struggle to read the space. Sunlight, foliage, flower and feminine figures coalesce on the surface of the painting to suggest a kind of essential presence, like some enchanting fragrance of the sensed rhythms of silence.
The composition of the present lot was repeated several times by the artist. It clearly shares the same scene as Terrace affording a view of the sea with Pollok under an umbrella and several figures, a work that is from the celebrated collection of Maison des Palmes collection. Another work of similar composition is in the Collection of President Sukarno. Entitled Woman lying under a parasol, flanked by two other women, with several figures in background, and illustrated in Lukisan dan patung Kolleksi Presiden Sukarno Dari Republik Indonesia, which was edited by Lee Man Fong (Tokyo, 1964, Vol. IV, no. 64.), this work from the presidential collection depicted the same sea view decorated with the luxuriant foliage and flowers of the tropics with Pollok reclining in a different position from in the present lot. Both works from the 2 different private collections are measured 150 x 200 cm which is the largest known size of the artist's work. The present work is a much smaller version of the same composition with lesser figures in the background.
In his house on the beach of Sanur, he has created a perfect source of artistic inspiration for his works where he could be constantly moved to paint. 'Now that my exhibitions turned out to be a bigger success that I had ever dared hope, I organized my house exactly as I liked it. I intended to surround myself with nothing but beauty. I employed five house servants for Pollok... . A couchman, a gardener, two kitchen maids and a chambermaid. Of course I have picked them myself and they were very beautiful girls in the first place. I didn't want them to be primarily servants. I wanted to have friends around us who took pleasure in their jobs. I forbade them to work in the late afternoon, during those hours I wanted them to sit around in their beautiful sarong, weaving the fabrics." (Jop Ubbens and Cathinka Huizing, Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprhs: Painter-Traveller 1880-1958, Pictures Publishers, The Netherlands, 1995, p. 119).
Le Mayeur maintained his focus, more or less, on the same motif for his works from the Balinese period. His preoccupations with the light as an impressionist finds the best expression with his portrayal of the stream of light weaving through the tangle of foliage, sitters, lotus pond etc, and finds its way to the multiple surfaces of glistening reflection.
The present lot contains all the quintessential elements of a work by Le Mayeur. The diligent portrayal of both material and ethereal beauty of his subjects renders such a tight composition that it is almost a struggle to read the space. Sunlight, foliage, flower and feminine figures coalesce on the surface of the painting to suggest a kind of essential presence, like some enchanting fragrance of the sensed rhythms of silence.
The composition of the present lot was repeated several times by the artist. It clearly shares the same scene as Terrace affording a view of the sea with Pollok under an umbrella and several figures, a work that is from the celebrated collection of Maison des Palmes collection. Another work of similar composition is in the Collection of President Sukarno. Entitled Woman lying under a parasol, flanked by two other women, with several figures in background, and illustrated in Lukisan dan patung Kolleksi Presiden Sukarno Dari Republik Indonesia, which was edited by Lee Man Fong (Tokyo, 1964, Vol. IV, no. 64.), this work from the presidential collection depicted the same sea view decorated with the luxuriant foliage and flowers of the tropics with Pollok reclining in a different position from in the present lot. Both works from the 2 different private collections are measured 150 x 200 cm which is the largest known size of the artist's work. The present work is a much smaller version of the same composition with lesser figures in the background.