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Lot Essay
“Those can imagine things in reality and draw the, accurately are illustrators. Those who see the hidden forms and see colours as shapes are painters.”
– Arie Smit
The tropical island of Bali has always been a paradise to travelers from far and wide. The island inspired the many Indo-European painters, such as Rudolf Bonner, Walter Spies, and Han Snel, who had come before Arie Smit. Through this exposure, Smit decided to move to Bali in 1956, 18 years after his service as a topographical illustrator during World War II, where his job was to make maps of the Indonesian archipelago. Differing greatly from the rigidity of his topographical drawing background, Arie Smit’s works are filled with rhythm and exuberant energy. When creating his paintings, Smit did not perceived his objects as they were, but created sketches based on his ideal compositional artistry, and later imbued them with the vibrant colours of his palette, invoking the rich mysticisms of the island while adding a very personal touch to the paintings.
The Balinese landscape and architecture were of his immense interest to Arie Smit, as well as its colourful culture and welcoming people. These motifs were the central to his artistic oeuvre. The he revisited subjected and motifs in the thousands of works he created, Smit often experimented with his style, medium and technique, offering refreshing and novel perspectives of familiar scenes of the island.
The lush vistas of Bali were the ones that capture his soul. Padi Field (Lot 546) and Village of Blega (Lot 547) are representative of the foundations of Smit’s artistic endeavour. With these two paintings, Smit was using a very distinct techniques that resulting in a contrasting details. In Padi Field, Smit offers a serene and quiet moment of a rural landscape of Bali with simple lines and strong blue colour to create a scene that resembles the falling of dusk. Whereas in Village of Blega, Smit zooms out from the scene, offering a painting of a traditional Balinese village completed with the lush surroundings of towering tropical trees. Similarly, in Landscape with Village Temple (Lot 549), Smit depicts the great landscape of Balinese hills complete with the people and traditional temple complex along their way. In this regard, these paintings share Smit’s outlook and fascination with Mother Nature. In other paintings like House Gate (Lot 550) and Resting on the Bale (Pura Ungu) (Lot 548), the artist captures the intimate scene of daily life in a rural village, set in the dense foliage of the tropics.
In many of his painting, Smit often emphasized the details of the surroundings with his miniature figures as plain white marks in his artistic arrangement. Kecak Dance (Lot 551) and Enchanted Garden (Lot 552) are rare vignettes of the lives of the Balinese people, with magical colours and vertical lines that are of Smit’s typical 1970s aesthetic. Kecak Dance focuses on the activity of the Kecak dance group. The celebratory scene achieved with the use of tight composition and lively colours demonstrate Smit’s maturity and versatility in his artistry. His techniques were further developed in the 1980s – the pinnacle of his creative journey. Enchanted Garden is an exemplary work of the maturity of his technique and choice of colours. Picturing a hidden Eden of Bali, Enchanted Garden offers a glance at a charming garden of the island’s tropical greenery and flowers. The artist’s use of pointillism in this work is reminiscent of the 19th century Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, while the artist’s choice of colours favour the raw quality of Fauvist movement, capturing the different colours in the tropical sunlight.
A master of colour and composition, Arie Smit tells a story of finding himself in a foreign land. The art of Arie Smit is an odyssey of a distinctive style of artistic expression, and a legacy in Balinese art that continues on till today.
– Arie Smit
The tropical island of Bali has always been a paradise to travelers from far and wide. The island inspired the many Indo-European painters, such as Rudolf Bonner, Walter Spies, and Han Snel, who had come before Arie Smit. Through this exposure, Smit decided to move to Bali in 1956, 18 years after his service as a topographical illustrator during World War II, where his job was to make maps of the Indonesian archipelago. Differing greatly from the rigidity of his topographical drawing background, Arie Smit’s works are filled with rhythm and exuberant energy. When creating his paintings, Smit did not perceived his objects as they were, but created sketches based on his ideal compositional artistry, and later imbued them with the vibrant colours of his palette, invoking the rich mysticisms of the island while adding a very personal touch to the paintings.
The Balinese landscape and architecture were of his immense interest to Arie Smit, as well as its colourful culture and welcoming people. These motifs were the central to his artistic oeuvre. The he revisited subjected and motifs in the thousands of works he created, Smit often experimented with his style, medium and technique, offering refreshing and novel perspectives of familiar scenes of the island.
The lush vistas of Bali were the ones that capture his soul. Padi Field (Lot 546) and Village of Blega (Lot 547) are representative of the foundations of Smit’s artistic endeavour. With these two paintings, Smit was using a very distinct techniques that resulting in a contrasting details. In Padi Field, Smit offers a serene and quiet moment of a rural landscape of Bali with simple lines and strong blue colour to create a scene that resembles the falling of dusk. Whereas in Village of Blega, Smit zooms out from the scene, offering a painting of a traditional Balinese village completed with the lush surroundings of towering tropical trees. Similarly, in Landscape with Village Temple (Lot 549), Smit depicts the great landscape of Balinese hills complete with the people and traditional temple complex along their way. In this regard, these paintings share Smit’s outlook and fascination with Mother Nature. In other paintings like House Gate (Lot 550) and Resting on the Bale (Pura Ungu) (Lot 548), the artist captures the intimate scene of daily life in a rural village, set in the dense foliage of the tropics.
In many of his painting, Smit often emphasized the details of the surroundings with his miniature figures as plain white marks in his artistic arrangement. Kecak Dance (Lot 551) and Enchanted Garden (Lot 552) are rare vignettes of the lives of the Balinese people, with magical colours and vertical lines that are of Smit’s typical 1970s aesthetic. Kecak Dance focuses on the activity of the Kecak dance group. The celebratory scene achieved with the use of tight composition and lively colours demonstrate Smit’s maturity and versatility in his artistry. His techniques were further developed in the 1980s – the pinnacle of his creative journey. Enchanted Garden is an exemplary work of the maturity of his technique and choice of colours. Picturing a hidden Eden of Bali, Enchanted Garden offers a glance at a charming garden of the island’s tropical greenery and flowers. The artist’s use of pointillism in this work is reminiscent of the 19th century Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, while the artist’s choice of colours favour the raw quality of Fauvist movement, capturing the different colours in the tropical sunlight.
A master of colour and composition, Arie Smit tells a story of finding himself in a foreign land. The art of Arie Smit is an odyssey of a distinctive style of artistic expression, and a legacy in Balinese art that continues on till today.