Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès (1880-1958)
Ni Pollok at the pond in Sanur garden
signed 'J le Mayeur' (lower left)
pastel on paper, 46,5x61,5 cm
Provenance:
-Collection Mr G.J. Wulfhorst, grandfather of the present owner. This lot is accompanied by a letter, dated Bali 23 December 1950, from Le Mayeur to Mr. Wulfhorst in Bussum.
G. J. Wulfhorst (1904-1983) started his military career in 1922 as a cadet, after which he studied at the Royal Military Academy (KMA) in Breda to become an officer. He went to the Dutch East Indies in October 1927. In 1934 he was placed in the XII battalion in Meester Cornelis, Batavia. Wulfhorst was captured in March 1942 by the Japanese and was forced to work on the Birma-railroad. He was liberated in August 1945. After the war he returned as the last KNIL commander of Bali, where he met the painter Le Mayeur. In 1950 he handed over the command of Bali to lieutenant kolonel Askari of the TNI, the Indonesian National Army.
Born in 1880 in Belgium from a wealthy noble family, Le Mayeur’s curiousity about Bali was aroused when in Tahiti he saw a film about this island. After his first brief visit late in 1929, the ‘island of gods’ was to leave an indelible impression on him. He went back in 1932. Bali was to become a rich source of inspiration for Le Mayeur. He devoted himself to the task of depicting his immediate surroundings: the Balinese people, the luxuriant flora, the beach, the sea, usually bathed in exuberant sunlight.
Only in a brief period of time he had enough works for a first exhibition, in Singapore. The reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Le Mayeur and his work. They write: ‘With the Bali girls as subject, he has succeeded in capturing the sunny spirit of subject and scene. His technique is simple but effective, he indicates every essential without going into detail. His colouring is brilliantly effective, and he captures the brightness and colourfulness of the tropical scene with the minimum of effort’. Most of the purchasers were Europeans and Americans, some inhabitants of Singapore.
Le Mayeur prefers to take his easel out into the light and air rather than to work in a studio, making his work exhale the rich breath of the tropical exterior. In a post-war interview Le Mayeur describes why he never left the island: ‘Why should I? I am an impressionist. There are three things in life I love: beauty, sunlight and silence. Tell me where to find these in a more perfect state than in Bali?’. In 1935 he married his favourite model Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik, also known as Ni Pollok. He bought a cottage by Sanur beach, and created a perfect environment for his art to florish: a sun drenched tropical house with a lush garden. In this little world he had created on a few square metres of beach, separating the endless space of ocean from a huge ricefield and palm forest, he was perfectly happy. He found all his themes in the immediate proximity of his home.
After the Second World War Le Mayeur started frenetically to paint again. In this lot the scenery is none other than Le Mayeur’s backyard. Ni Pollok sits on the balcony overlooking the pond with blooming water lilies in the garden.
Source: J. Ubbens, C. Huizing, ‘Adrien Jean le Mayeur de Merprés, Painter-Traveller / Schilder-reiziger’, Wijk en Aalburg 1995.
Photos of Ni Pollok posing: Collection Paul de Bont, The Hague.
For this artist resale right is applicable from €2400 hammer price onwards
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Ni Pollok at the pond in Sanur garden
signed 'J le Mayeur' (lower left)
pastel on paper, 46,5x61,5 cm
Provenance:
-Collection Mr G.J. Wulfhorst, grandfather of the present owner. This lot is accompanied by a letter, dated Bali 23 December 1950, from Le Mayeur to Mr. Wulfhorst in Bussum.
G. J. Wulfhorst (1904-1983) started his military career in 1922 as a cadet, after which he studied at the Royal Military Academy (KMA) in Breda to become an officer. He went to the Dutch East Indies in October 1927. In 1934 he was placed in the XII battalion in Meester Cornelis, Batavia. Wulfhorst was captured in March 1942 by the Japanese and was forced to work on the Birma-railroad. He was liberated in August 1945. After the war he returned as the last KNIL commander of Bali, where he met the painter Le Mayeur. In 1950 he handed over the command of Bali to lieutenant kolonel Askari of the TNI, the Indonesian National Army.
Born in 1880 in Belgium from a wealthy noble family, Le Mayeur’s curiousity about Bali was aroused when in Tahiti he saw a film about this island. After his first brief visit late in 1929, the ‘island of gods’ was to leave an indelible impression on him. He went back in 1932. Bali was to become a rich source of inspiration for Le Mayeur. He devoted himself to the task of depicting his immediate surroundings: the Balinese people, the luxuriant flora, the beach, the sea, usually bathed in exuberant sunlight.
Only in a brief period of time he had enough works for a first exhibition, in Singapore. The reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Le Mayeur and his work. They write: ‘With the Bali girls as subject, he has succeeded in capturing the sunny spirit of subject and scene. His technique is simple but effective, he indicates every essential without going into detail. His colouring is brilliantly effective, and he captures the brightness and colourfulness of the tropical scene with the minimum of effort’. Most of the purchasers were Europeans and Americans, some inhabitants of Singapore.
Le Mayeur prefers to take his easel out into the light and air rather than to work in a studio, making his work exhale the rich breath of the tropical exterior. In a post-war interview Le Mayeur describes why he never left the island: ‘Why should I? I am an impressionist. There are three things in life I love: beauty, sunlight and silence. Tell me where to find these in a more perfect state than in Bali?’. In 1935 he married his favourite model Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik, also known as Ni Pollok. He bought a cottage by Sanur beach, and created a perfect environment for his art to florish: a sun drenched tropical house with a lush garden. In this little world he had created on a few square metres of beach, separating the endless space of ocean from a huge ricefield and palm forest, he was perfectly happy. He found all his themes in the immediate proximity of his home.
After the Second World War Le Mayeur started frenetically to paint again. In this lot the scenery is none other than Le Mayeur’s backyard. Ni Pollok sits on the balcony overlooking the pond with blooming water lilies in the garden.
Source: J. Ubbens, C. Huizing, ‘Adrien Jean le Mayeur de Merprés, Painter-Traveller / Schilder-reiziger’, Wijk en Aalburg 1995.
Photos of Ni Pollok posing: Collection Paul de Bont, The Hague.
For this artist resale right is applicable from €2400 hammer price onwards
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
