Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès (9 February 1880 — 31 May 1958) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

from

Ixelles ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the muni ...

who lived the last part of his life in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

Biography

Adrien Le Mayeur came to Bali at

Singaraja Singaraja is a port town in northern Bali, Indonesia, which serves as the seat of Buleleng Regency. The name is Indonesian for "Lion King" (from Tamil ''singam'' and ''raja''). It is just east of Lovina, and is also the centre of Buleleng Distric ...

by boat in 1932. He then stayed in

Denpasar Denpasar (; Balinese script, Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ) is the capital of Bali and the main gateway to the island. The city is also a hub for other cities in the Lesser Sunda Islands. With the rapid growth of the tourism industry in Bali ...

and was fascinated by what remained then of

Balinese culture The Balinese people ( id, suku Bali; ban, ᬳᬦᬓ᭄‌ᬩᬮᬶ, anak Bali) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million (1.7% of Indonesia's population) live mostly on the ...

, including the

Balinese people The Balinese people ( id, suku Bali; ban, ᬳᬦᬓ᭄‌ᬩᬮᬶ, anak Bali) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million (1.7% of Indonesia's population) live mostly on the ...

's traditional way of life, the temple rituals and local dances. He was also impressed by the light, color and beauty of the surroundings in the then still quite unspoilt island. Le Mayeur rented a house in ''banjar'' Kelandis, Denpasar, where he got acquainted with 15-year-old

legong Legong ( Balinese: ) is a form of Balinese dance. It is a refined dance form characterized by intricate finger movements, complicated footwork, and expressive gestures and facial expressions. Origins Legong probably originated in the 19th centu ...

dancer, Ni Nyoman Pollok, known by her nickname Ni Pollok , who later on became Le Mayeur's model for his paintings. A number of Le Mayeur's Bali works using Ni Pollok as model were exhibited in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

for the first time in 1933, which turned to be a very successful exhibition and made him more widely known. Returning from Singapore, Le Mayeur bought a piece of land at Sanur beach and built a house. At this house, which was also Le Mayeur's studio, Ni Pollok with her two friends worked every day as models. The beauty and splendid figure of Ni Pollok had made Le Mayeur enjoy his stay in Bali. At first he intended to stay only for 8 months, but later on he decided to stay in the island for the rest of his life. After three years working together, in 1935, Le Mayeur and Pollok got married. Le Mayeur kept on painting with his wife as his model during their married life. During the

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. It was one of the most crucial and important periods in modern Indonesian history. In May ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Le Mayeur was put under house arrest by the Japanese authorities. He continued painting, however, often painting on rice sack cloth and other surfaces he could find. After the war Le Mayeur's reputation grew at steady pace. Years after the

Proclamation of Indonesian Independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...

Bahder Djohan Bahder Djohan (30 July 1902 – 8 March 1981) was an Indonesian politician who served as the 6th Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia. He served in the Natsir and Wilopo Cabinets. Background Bahder Djohan was the 5 10 childre ...

, the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n Minister for Education and Culture visited Le Mayeur and Ni Pollok at their house in 1956. He was greatly impressed with the painter's work and therefore suggested to the couple that their house and all its contents should be preserved as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

. Le Mayeur agreed to the idea and since then he worked harder to add more collections to the house and to increase the quality of his works as well. At last, Le Mayeur's dream came true that on 28 August 1957 a Deed of Conveyance Number 37 was signed, stating that Le Mayeur had given all his possessions including the land, his house with all its contents to Ni Pollok as a gift. And at the same moment, Ni Pollok then conveyed what she had inherited from her husband to the Government of

to be used as a museum. In 1958 Le Mayeur suffered from a severe ear cancer, and accompanied by Ni Pollok he returned to Belgium to have a medical treatment. After two months in Belgium, on 31 May 1958 the 78-year-old painter died and was buried in

, Brussels. Ni Pollok then returned home to take care of her house which had become the

Le Mayeur Museum The Le Mayeur Museum is a museum containing Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur's work as well as his collection of traditional Balinese art and local artifacts. It is located in Sanur, Bali, Indonesia. Literature * See also *List of single-artist museums ...

. She stayed there until her death on 18 July 1985 at the age of 68. Le Mayeur and Ni Pollok's home is kept in its original condition and is still a museum where about 80 of Le Mayeur's works are exhibited, as well as his collection of traditional

Balinese art Balinese art is art of Hindu-Javanese origin that grew from the work of artisans of the Majapahit, Majapahit Kingdom, with their expansion to Bali in the late 14th century. From the sixteenth until the twentieth centuries, the village of Kamasan, ...

and local artifacts.

References

External links

Bali Le Mayeur MuseumAdrien-Jean Le Mayeur De Merprès
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Mayeur, Adrien-Jean 1880 births 1958 deaths 20th-century Belgian painters 20th-century Indonesian painters Artists from Bali Painters from Brussels Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Belgian expatriates Expatriates in Indonesia Belgian emigrants Immigrants to Indonesia Walloon diaspora Immigrants to the Dutch East Indies Belgian prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Deaths from cancer in Belgium People from Ixelles People from Denpasar