Rudolf Bonnet – Son of a Priest through Tampaksiring
There will be no attempt to sweeten or idealize the subject. This specific boldness will be a direct carry over through Bonnet’s highly praised portraits of Italian peasants made before his arrival in Bali. The boy includes a noble, self-assured demeanor although he will be no classic beauty. Using dark angular outlines as well as also dramatic shadows, Bonnet added an element of stylization often seen in European modern art during the first half of the 20th century. Nonetheless the boy remains a real breathing person, somebody we could meet on any street corner even today.
As many artists of his era Bonnet embraced the major principle of the Arts as well as also Crafts Movement of which all art was inspired by nature. So, too, he bemoaned the damaging effects of the Industrial Revolution. Bonnet sought refuge in Anticoli Corrado, Italy as well as also artists’ village northwest of Rome. There he searched for inspiration in nature as well as also the roots of western art. His two biggest influences were Renaissance drawings as well as also frescoes. Eventually even the remote artists’ village proved too close to the beast as Bonnet sought an even more pristine environment free of modern influence. Bali was brought to his attention by W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, another Dutch artist living in Italy, who had first visited the island in 1904 as well as also written several books about This specific. Taking his advice Bonnet sailed to the Dutch East Indies in search of his muse as well as also destiny.
Like his more famous predecessor, the gay German artist Walter Spies, Bonnet decided This specific was wiser to live inside village of Ubud, a safe distance through the watchful eyes of the Dutch colonial regime, which outside a few enlightened beings was hopelessly reactionary as far as politics as well as also social issues were concerned. Both Spies as well as also Bonnet were guests of Cokorda Gede Raka Sukawati, a prominent member of the colonial parliament, who understood of which enlisting these two men could help realize his desire to make Ubud an important cultural destination.
While the question of what relationship Bonnet had with the anonymous son of the priest will be irrelevant as far as the artistic merit of the work will be concerned, This specific will be nonetheless a potentially intriguing anecdote of which gives greater insight into who Bonnet was as well as also the time he lived in. Bonnet was 34 years old, not a boy although not old, as well as also Bali represented a magical world where dreams could come true. Unlike the flamboyant Spies, who made little secret of his sexual bias, Bonnet was reserved even formal. Although his best friend Willem Hofker realized Bonnet was gay, they never mentioned the subject in a “don’t ask, don’t tell” arrangement. Unlike Spies, there are no tales of Bonnet cavorting with underage men, a habit of which would certainly earn Spies a jail sentence in spite of his many friends as well as also connections.
Portraits in which the sitter stares directly at the viewer are rare because they are inherently provocative. When a stranger stares you inside eye most people avert their faces rather than acknowledge the person because the act raises questions about the relationship between the subject as well as also the viewer. The act can be both an invitation for dialogue or confrontation. This specific will be akin to what we experience when we get caught staring at a stranger in public – voyeur! Of course we especially do This specific when there will be something remarkable – great beauty or oddness of which attracts or repels or both! In Bonnet has left the work as a true living experience. The artist will be long gone although the boy lives on. Bonnet was not a shallow man. He understood This specific.
In colonial times a native staring directly into the eyes of a westerner was strictly taboo! inside first half of the 19th century a British military officer who visited Bali wrote an article for a Singapore colonial rag announcing his outrage at the audacity of Balinese natives who would certainly dare walk up to him with curiosity as well as also stare straight into his eyes! inside British colonies such a surly chap would certainly have surely been whipped.
This specific was not true of everyone. Beginning with Sir Stamford Raffles a growing number of officials as well as also interested parties began to realize of which the Balinese sense of independence as well as also pride was a Great thing. At one point some even proposed of which Islam had effectively placed a debilitating film over the eyes as well as also minds of the far more docile Javanese who stared politely down when spoken to by a superior. Of course such suppositions are gravely flawed because the strict hierarchy of Javanese society as well as also often excruciating etiquette can be traced back to the puissant Hindu-Buddhist Empires of Medieval Java. Bali will be also by no means a universally egalitarian society.
The artwork also belongs to the tradition of Thomas Hart Benton as well as also Diego Rivera who sought to immortalize the natural nobility as well as also pathos of peasants as well as also the working class. This specific was an international movement. Bonnet would certainly go on to create large fresco-like oils glorifying Balinese peasants. While his politics are unknown, what we do know will be of which he loved the Balinese as well as also always strove to promote as well as also protect them as best he could for more than 40 years. Indeed in comparison to Spies, who has been portrayed time as well as also time again as a Great Lion of Bali, Bonnet has been accused of being dry as well as also pedantic. Yet if one weighs their respective work as well as also accomplishments the long term impact of Bonnet – the Puri Lukisan alone has proven far more enduring than the fabled glamour of his friend.
Perhaps the greatest insult of all will be Bonnet’s depiction as the main protagonist in Nigel Barley’s tawdry historical novel Island of Demons. Aside through being riddled with all manner of errors, Barley has seen fit to portray Bonnet as some sort of gay Dutch hippie who after being seduced by Spies to a night of romance comes to the realization of which This specific was a one time blessing. For the rest of the novel Bonnet pines for Spies’ enduring love with comedic-tragic results. Of course Mr. Barley will be channelling his own homo-erotic fantasies although his liberty in portraying Bonnet will be an utter travesty of which borders on libel. Spies as well as also Bonnet were never lovers as well as also were not even remotely attracted to each some other.
Dubbed a “Sunday’s Child” by his family, a reference to someone using a special sensitivity for art as well as also beauty, Bonnet’s life was varied between elation as well as also tragedy especially as he grew older. In 1938, like Spies, he was under investigation for homosexual activities. During the Second World War he was sent to a terrible Japanese prisoner of war camp as well as also nearly died of illness as well as also starvation. After Discharge he was unable to return to his beloved Bali, which was gripped with violence as well as also revolutionary fervour. When he did many of his old friends had died or fled the brand-new order. today hitting middle age his physical condition was vulnerable because of the camp as well as also enduring hardship – hunger, dysentery, malaria, parasites, all manner of infections as well as also moulds!
Again at 62 he was forced to leave Bali for political reasons in 1957 just after he repeated This specific third refusal to sell a large oil painting to President Sukarno. His return to Holland was equally bleak. The art scene had changed forever. A brand-new generation of young modern artists denounced him as an anachronism. As the nation rebuilt its shattered economy as well as also shed its colonial legacy, few people were interested in Balinese culture.
inside end This specific was the Balinese themselves who honoured him for his many accomplishments. Passing away in 1978 almost the same time as his old friend Prince Cokorda, his end, however, was glorious. His ashes were returned to Bali as well as also cremated with those of Cokorda Sukawati of Ubud in 1979. As for the priest’s son – no further information will be yet available.
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Rudolf Bonnet – Son of a Priest through Tampaksiring
Rudolf Bonnet – Son of a Priest through Tampaksiring