Although it is recorded that the artist has tried to shun away from the throng of visitors coming to him: "I've had a cottage built on the seashore, far away from the other people, especially the Europeans. As it is in the middle of a paddy it can only be approached by way of the beach...." (Drs Jop Ubbens and Cathinka Huizing, Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès: Painter-Traveller, Wijk en Aalburg, 1995, p. 109). Nevertheless, the artistic talent of the artist along with his elegant wife, Ni Pollok remained a huge attraction to the foreign visitors. Many of whom had come to admire and bought the works of Le Mayeur and clearly enjoyed the collective experience - the house, the model, the artist and the purchase. In the words of the Novelist Nevil Shute "We went once or twice to a place the other side of the strip called Sanoer, where a Belgian artist was married to a very fine Balinese woman. I think that was the most beautiful house I have ever been in, the walls covered with paintings of the Balinese and their way of life, and full of Balinese young men and women so that it was difficult to say from memory which of the scenes remembered from the house were real ones and which are painted." (Drs. Jop Ubbens and Cathinka Huizing, Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès: Painter-Traveller, Wijk en Aalburg, 1995, p. 169). The original owners of the painting had developed a friendship with the artist as evidenced with the family's keeping of the photographs and postcards from the artist. Hence, the present lot serves not just as an artistic expression but a testimony to a friendship between the artist and his admirers.

ADRIEN-JEAN LE MAYEUR DE MERPRÈS (Belgium 1880-1958)

Balinese ladies in the garden

Details

ADRIEN-JEAN LE MAYEUR DE MERPRÈS (Belgium 1880-1958)
Balinese ladies in the garden
signed 'J Le Mayeur' (lower right)
oil on canvas
39 x 47 in. (100 x 120 cm.)
In an original handcarved Balinese frame.

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist by the first owner, a Dutch gentleman who eventually resided in America.
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Lot Essay

Three works of similar composition are known: two of monumental size are in the Collection of President Sukarno and the Maison des Palmes Collection respectively (Christie's Singapore, March 1999, lot 33). The third was sold by Christie's Singapore, October 2000, lot 33. Sharing almost identical composition, the present lot depicts the same sea view decorated with the luxuriant foliage and flowers of the tropics with Pollok, the only sitter for the composition, reclining under the parasol.

An impressionist artist has once stated that there should only be one subject for an artist, and the artist should re-create the same composition till his skill reaches the state of perfection. Indeed, the extensive foliage, the numerous dancing figures and the sea view in the background of this composition, affords the effects of the filtration of light, dancing light bouncing off the landscape and the voluptuous bodies as well as the inter-play of vibrant colours. These are essential features of the works of Le Mayeur, which he continuously explored throughout his life. In this context, the specific subjects of the works play a secondary role, as they served a role of embodiment for the very essence of the artist's inspiration, which remained beauty and sunlight.

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