Beschreibung:

I Ketut Ngendon (Batuan, 1903-1947) Bima Rescuing his Parents Wash technique and watercolour on board, framed 59 x 44 cm. Bima, one of the Pandawa Brothers, fights the Guardians of Purgatory in order to rescue his parents from the Cauldron of Punishment. Yama, God of Judgement and King of the Underworld, presides at the top of the composition, with the tree from which the krisses are suspended (Kayu Curiga) just below him. On the left is a cauldron of boiling oil where Bima's parents are suffering. When he asked for the release of his father and mother the demons refused and Bima fought them. He pushed over the cauldron, but the parents of Bima stuck to the bottom of the pot because the crime of Bima's father had been so great. After further trials the valiant Bima was finally permitted by Siwa to rescue his Parent's souls. In the foreground we see Bima fighting Jogormantik, the Demon Guardian of Purgatory. to the left is the demon Suratma, who keeps records of the sins and appropriate punishment of people, shown with a lontar book and a writing utensil in his hands. At the right is a man attacked by birds, as a punishment for excessive bird killing with a blowpipe. A woman, whose Breast is being suckled by a giant leech, may receive punishment for remaining without children. Dogs tear the sarong of another woman as a punishment, possibly for the neglect of weaving. A man is hanging down by his feet, which is said to happen to those whose descendants have not yet performed the releasing rituals of cremation. A demon is shaking the tree with the krisses that as they fall, stab the figures below. The Bima Suarga story was a frequent subject for the pre-war Balinese modernists. The tale is told in shadow plays, in carvings on the temple of the graveyard ( pura dalem ), and in traditional temple paintings. It was also the subject of the 18th century, highly delicate ceiling paintings at the Hall of Justice (Kerta Ghosa), at Klungkung (for the same subject see also lot 76). One can't help noticing how modern Balinese painters like Ngendon compare to paintings from medieval Christianity, as they similarly lay out their compositions by distributing the various events all over the available space. By the function of such subjects they are reminiscent of the iconography of the Old Masters, found in particular in the apocalyptic paintings of Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Like for instance the work of Bosch, the narratives in Balinese painting too can be interpreted as warnings towards the general public against the declination of moral values. As an example the Bima story lodges an appeal to the first-born sons not to forsake the duty performing the cremation and purification ceremonies for their deceased parents. Ngendon was among the first of the Batuan painters to try the new art and was very influential on those who followed. Due to the fact that Ngendon was acquainted with both Spies and Bonnet at an early stage, and because he was involved in organising toursist events, his art seems to reach a higher degree of Westernisation than his contemporaries from the Batuan region. Paradoxically it may well be true that it is due to Ngendon's influence and artistic leadership that the Batuan painters as a group preserved their own identity and did not become epigenists of any western artist (unlike some painters from the Ubud region). Illustrative is the example told by I Ketut Tombelos (Margaret Mead's field notes), where it is said that Ngendon had a violent disagreement with Bonnet regarding the paternalistic interventions of the latter towards the style and choice subject of Ngendon. Professor Hildred Geertz perceives a strong taboo against any sign of modernisation evident in the work of Batuan painters ( op. cit. p. 17). Still she rightly suggests that it was Western modernity and Western forms of power that fascinated and inspired Ngendon ( op. cit. p. 19). The artist was a member of the Pita Maha artists' associa