Balinese Painting by I Gusti Nyoman Sudara

This fine ink and watercolour painting on paper in muted charcoal tones is by the Balinese artist I Gusti Nyoman Sudara, a grandson of the famous I Gusti Nyoman Sudara Lempad (1862-1978) who pioneered this style of drawing.

The painting shows the kidnap of a woman and a man being subdued by three others as well as a bird. All the figures are finely and beautifully rendered. All are in traditional Balinese dress. It is likely that the scene is based on the the capture of Sita from the Ramayana, with the bird being symbolic of Garuda, and is based on a work by the artist’s grandfather.

It is signed in fine black ink ‘I Gusti Nyoman Sudara / Ubud, Bali’. The painting is undated but was executed around 1990.

The painting is in its original, hand-carved wooden frame with red and gilt highlights.

Lempad, who lived in Ubud, was instrumental in the development of the Pita Maha artists collective that was initially formed in 1936 by the local aristocrat, Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati, and foreign artists Rudolf Bonnet and Walter Spies.

Lempad developed a new style of Balinese aesthetic in art which featured elongated and a sense of space and composition which was unusual – most artists at the time presented works that were busy, cluttered, and colourful. He utilised empty areas of white paper in his works that emphasised the clarity and cleverness of his figurative line drawings while the balance of composition then became essential. His grandson has continued with this method here.

The painting and frame are in fine condition.