Nashar (Indonesian, 1928-1994)


Spirits of Sanur, 1977 signed with artist's monogram and dated '9.6.77', lower right.oil on canvas90 x 140 cm. (35 3/8 x 55 1/8 in.)
|納沙 峇里島沙努爾精神 油彩畫布 一九七七年作PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTIONProvenance:Private Collection, IndonesiaNashar on his experience in Bali..."I could only finish painting the houses in this housing area on paper – which I worked on every day, from morning to evening – in nine days. Surely you wonder, "How could it possibly take that long?". The reason is that I was not familiar with this environment and while I was painting, I made conversations with the locals. I tried to gradually be involved in their lives. You have to know that if I didn't do that, then my works would end up like those of many tourist painters who observe objects as passive audience."(Nashar. Nashar oleh Nashar, Yayasan Bentang Budaya, Yogyakarta, 2002, p. 151)Spirit of Sanur is a testament of Nashar's acute observation and poetic interpretation of his memories and emotions during his multiple sojourns in Bali. Equipped only with paper, paintbrush, poster colours and hunger for new inspirations, Nashar made his first trip to Bali in 1958, observing and recording the minutiae of the Balinese life. Spirit of Sanur captures Nashar's later visit to the island in 1977 and his fascination towards Sanur beach, one of the Balinese landmarks. Learning from his predecessors such as Affandi and contemporaries such as Zaini and Popo Iskandar, Nashar aims to paint beyond the superficial and instead attempt to capture only the essence. Nashar stood by his three 'Non' principles: 1. Non-aesthetic, 2. Non-concept, and 3. Non-technique – three of which could be seen in his spontaneous plein-air study drawings which were often mistaken as mere scribbles. In reality, these 'scribbles' are Nashar's subconsciously processed semiotic vocabulary that represents his impressions, ideas and feelings towards his subjects where each planes and lines on the paper imbue certain inherent meanings to Nashar. Analogous to a poem, words are carefully chosen and put together to create an impactful piece of literature: Nashar adapted these semiotic vocabularies from his study drawings and skillfully assemble them into his final composition. In Spirit of Sanur, the zig-zag lines, the organic scribbles and Nashar's impressionist dabs recount the movement of the sea breeze and the gentle wave on a sunny afternoon. The temple gate stood almost in the centre of the composition and is contrasted in dark indigo colour to exude an element of mysticism. Nashar's true mastery and artistry are shown in Spirit of Sanur through his ability in capturing the serenity and mystery of Sanur beach in a simplified yet effective formal and tonal arrangements.