Lot 64 | 12 July 2020

 

 

LOT 64

ADRIEN-JEAN LE MAYEUR

B. Belgium, 1880 – 1958

Ni Pollok Weaving

Signed “J.Le Mayeur” on lower left

Pastel crayon and watercolour on paper

46 x 62 cm

Provenance Private Collection, Canada

RM 30,000 – RM 70,000

Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres was born on February 9, 1880 and was a Belgian painter from Brussels who lived the last part of his life in Bali, Indonesia. It was Le Mayeur’s first voyage to Bali when he fell in love with whom would be his lifelong model and muse, the charming Legong dancer Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik (1917-1985), colloquially known as Ni Pollok. By 1935, Pollok became his wife and would feature frequently in his paintings, all of which celebrate his love for her. Le Mayeur would call Bali his home for the rest of his life, his famous house in Sanur became his studio and source of inspiration. Today, his works are admired for combining the very best of Western Impressionist approaches and a reverent eye of the Balinese landscape and its people. A number of Le Mayeur’s Bali works with Ni Pollok as the model were exhibited in Singapore for the first time in 1933, which turned out to be a successful exhibition and gained him more popularity.