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| Tari Oleg Tamulilingan Anak Agung Gede Sobrat 1970 |
Early life
Sobrat was the son of an aristocratic family from the town of Padangtegal in Ubud. Prior to World War II, he was also known as I Dewa Sobrat.
As a child, he was exposed to various forms of art such as shadow
puppet performances and sacred dances at the village's temples. He
learned to make shadow puppets from his grandfather. This became the
basis for his skillful depiction of the Ramayana and Mahabharata in his early paintings.
Influence of Walter Spies
Sobrat and his neighbor Anak Agung Gde Meregeg were the first two artists in Padangtegal to meet Walter Spies, at the end of 1920s. Spies was a German artist who together with Rudolf Bonnet was thought to be the agent of change for the modernization of Balinese art. Sobrat worked and lived with Spies for a year.
Spies' influence can be seen in his early works, particularly those
with split or double horizons. He learned western style painting from
Spies and Rudolf Bonnet.
In the early 1930s, Bonnet considered him to be the most talented
Balinese artist of the period for his drawing skill, color composition
and his versatility. It is from Bonnet that he learned portraiture.
From 1957 and 1959 Sobrat taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Yogyakarta.
Works
In his early career, before 1930, Sobrat produced mainly Wayang (shadow style) paintings. Some of his early works can be found in the Museum Puri Lukisan in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. Sobrat produced many portraits, mostly of his daughter.
Reception
Bonnet once wrote that Anak Agung Gde Sobrat was the most talented artist in Bali. His works can be found in several museums throughout the world: Bali Museum; Museum Puri Lukisan - Ubud, Bali; Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde - Leiden; and Tropenmuseum - Amsterdam. In Bali, his pre-war and modern works can be viewed at the Puri Lukisan Museum.
References
- ^ a b Rudolf Bonnet (1936), Beeldende Kunst in Gianjar, Djawa, Vol. 6
- ^ Hans Rhodius and John Darling, Walter Spies and Balinese Art, Terra (1980)
- ^ Spanjaard, Helena (December 2007). Pioneers of Balinese Painting. KIT Publishers. ISBN 978-90-6832-447-1.
- ^ a b Haks, Frans; Kunsthal Rotterdam (1999). Pre-war Balinese Modernists, 1928-1942. Ars et Animatio. ISBN 90-5349-297-6.
- ^ Jean Couteau, Museum Puri Lukisan Catalog, 1999
