Footnotes

Provenance
Neka Art Museum, Bali
Borobudur Auction, 19 May 2008, lot 550
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner
Private collection, Singapore

阿瑞·史密特
兒童嬉戲
1989年作

簽名：arie smit 89（右下）
丙烯畫布

來源
峇里島Neka藝術館
新加坡，婆羅浮屠拍賣行，2008年5月19日，拍品編號550
現藏家得自上述來源
新加坡私人收藏

Since the early 1900s, lush and exotic images connected to the tropical island of Bali has attracted numerous foreign artists. While many left, others chose to make the island their permanent homes. They were moved by the lifestyle and beautiful landscape of Bali, and together contributed significantly to the development of Indonesian art scene. Among European artists who rose to prominence, and gained much respect is Adrianus Wilhemus Smit, also affectionately known as Arie Smit.

Originally assigned as a soldier in the topography service of the Dutch East Indies Army in 1938, Smit never gave up his artistic dreams and decided to become an artist in Bandung, and later Bali in mid 1950s. Having guided young artists in Bali, Smit discovered a wealth of spectacular sceneries, events, people and stories that inspired his life-long works. Unlike many Indonesian artists who paint directly from still life subjects, Smit was constantly on the move, he would sketch various objects, people, places, figures and colours. These elements were selected and arranged according to his imaginations, forming "romantic, dream-like state of mind" visual narratives. The uniqueness of Smit's oeuvre, a poetic realism, is the signature expression of the artist.

Since the 1960s, Smit's works were always in constant growth through the emerging of his personality, the development of vertical brush strokes, forms and lines that began to characterise his painting style. By the 1980s, Smit further experimented with the use of colours. Multi-coloured dots and specks appeared more frequently along with bold outlines, as well as horizontally placed dots and lines in different hues of green.¹ (Suteja Neka and Sudarmaji, Arie Smit, Bali Koes Artbooks, 1995, p 19).

Lot 26 Children Playing is a delightful piece executed at the height of Smit's career. A landscape painted in various shades of green, this engaging work is composed from Smit's imaginative images. The artist's bold outlines establish boundaries, creating structures and infusing life to his objects. Swaying palm trees of varying heights add illusion of depth to the undulating hilly paths, rice fields, and cascading waterfalls. Appealing to his personal belief in Asian philosophy, Smit acknowledged the grandeur of the universe while humans and other creatures fall within. In Lot 26 Children Playing, trees, flowers, mountains and water dominate the entire canvas. Hues of yellow, blue, and green which paint an image of clear blue skies are illustrated through short and broad strokes. On the contrary, occupying the foreground, several small figures show carefree children playing happily, while women folks can be seen engaging in pleasantries. Although children's activity is the central theme of this painting, the artist deliberately focused on the interaction between tropical nature and its inhabitants, producing a dynamic composition which conveys the idea of merry contentment in paradise.

Lot 27 Ricefields in Bali is a charming work painted in a period when Smit had attained full maturity in his artistic practices. A well-balanced composition, the painting is symmetrically set forth by two mountains in the background, along with two farmers working on the left, and a house on far right. The two figures and house are highlighted in white outline to emphasize reality set against a vast earthly nature, highlighting the breadth and wealth Bali has to offer. By the 1990s, Smit was proficient in combining different strokes and shades of colours. In Lot 27 Ricefields in Bali, Smit's skilfully divided the painting into separate sections. Longer and broader horizontal strokes are blended in green, blue, yellow, lavender and pink. The contrasting colours create vibrancy and movement to an otherwise still subject. Their bright reflection may indicate a transitional period of the day shown in the work. On the other hand, Smit's classic thin lines, filled with striking green and purple dominate mountains and elongate form giving rise to their magnificent silhouettes. Finally, drawing viewers' attention to the two figures hard at work, colourful dots and specks were creatively added to the expansive rice field. Specks of pink mixed with colourful dots, highly characteristic of Smit's techniques portray a shimmering terrace that seems to vibrate with the farmers' movements. A sense of harmony in Lot 27 Ricefields in Bali invites viewers to savour a pleasant visual experience in yet another one of Smit's masterpieces.