Bali loses idealist artist Made Poleng

Bali loses idealist artist Made Poleng

By I Wayan Juniartha

UBUD, Bali (JP): Bali has lost a painting legend. Ida Bagus
Made Rai, better known as Ida Bagus Made Poleng, died at Puri
Raharja Hospital, Denpasar, on July 17. He was 85.

The eccentric Poleng was most respected for his ardent refusal
to commercialize art.

Ubud -- its people, tranquil paddy fields, rivers and rural
roads -- will no longer know the old man's gentle steps like
before when the artist used to take a stroll bare-chested with
his long gray hair flowing onto his shoulders.

"Bali has certainly lost a great artist. His integrity and
artistic achievement were beyond compare," says I Made Bandem,
one of Bali's most respected intellectuals.

Poleng, who was born in Tebesaya village in Gianyar regency,
died after he was in hospital for a week. Few of his colleagues
knew about his death and only a handful of relatives and close
friends came to the funeral at his modest home.

His body was laid in its natural state at Bale Dangin, the
hall built without walls at the eastern wing of the family's
house. The small hall was decorated with batik clothes -- some
worn out with holes here and there.

His only daughter, Ida Ayu Putu Sadri, 57, said Poleng was
admitted to hospital for a respiratory complaint. He had a
pacemaker for several years.

"He went to the hospital only after we had a hard time
persuading him," Sadri said.

Several dozen of his admirers, friends and relatives shed
tears when Poleng's body was bathed on July 18 before being
cremated in a Hindu ritual.

"He retained his macho look and he looked like (Indonesia's
first president) Bung Karno," said gallery owner Jais Hadiana
Dargawijaya, recalling her last look at Poleng at the funeral.

Jais was the one that Poleng would entrust to exhibit his
works.

Poleng, a son of a well-known artist, is survived by his wife,
Gusti Biang Geriya, 70, his daughter and two grandchildren.

His great talent brought him fame when he was still very
young. He joined Pita Maha, an association of young Balinese
artists founded by painter Rudolf Bonnet and Ubud aristocrat
Tjokorda Agung Sukawati.

"I learned a lot from Bonnet, but (Walter) Spies was too
intelligent for me, my brain could not match his," Poleng once
said.

He was known in the international community when the UN chose
two of his works to be exhibited at its New York headquarters in
1953.

But it was his eccentricity that made him widely recognized as
one of Bali's greatest artists. Poleng was an admirer of first
president Sukarno, whom he praised as "the only president who
knew art".

Poleng, who loved appearing bare-chested and wearing only a
sarong, often mentioned Sukarno when he chatted with his friends.

"The night before he died, he said if Megawati (Sukarno's
president aspirant daughter) knew he was ill, she would probably
come and see him," his daughter Sadri said.

Unlike artists in general who see galleries and collectors as
partners, Poleng considered them enemies of art.

"If someone can convince me he/she understands the beauty of
my works, I will gladly give them my works for nothing. But if
they don't understand them, I will never let my works go even if
people offer me several hundred million rupiah," he said.

Poleng won notoriety when he threw Adam Malik, the late former
foreign minister and vice president, out of his studio for saying
his works were "too expensive".

On another occasion, he asked president Sukarno to give him a
ride in his presidential limousine. "If the president has the
political power, the artist has the artistic power," he said.

A friend of Poleng said Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana, the
eldest daughter of former president Soeharto, once left his
studio embarrassed when her Rp 30 million offer for a small
painting was rejected because she failed to convince Poleng why
she liked the piece.

He expressed his enmity against commercialization of art not
only by refusing galleries and art collectors but also by
rejecting participation in any exhibitions with commercial
purposes. His last exhibition was at Museum Puri Lukisan, Ubud,
in the 70s.

Poleng would take part in an exhibition that aimed at offering
art education. This was what happened in early 1998 when Poleng
permitted Jais's Darga Gallery, to exhibit 20 of his works. He
was willing to be featured in a documentary film produced by the
Pararupa Foundation, which dedicates itself in the promotion of
art.

"We mean to pay our respect to Ida Bagus Made Poleng by
allowing Balinese youths to view his works," Jais said. "I think
he can understand my purpose and that was why he allowed me to
exhibit his works."

Poleng's last public appearance was when he opened a painting
and sculpture exhibition titled Pendet Tiga Generasi in Ubud on
June 4. The show featured the works of the late I Wayan Pendet,
who was known to share Poleng's idealism.

His relatives said Poleng's artistic spirit remained alive
even when he was dying on his hospital bed. In his last moments,
he was witnessed moving his fingers as if he were creating
artwork.

"His fingers kept moving although there was no canvas," Sadri
said. "He mumbled about weaknesses and strengths of artists he
knew well."

In a locked room of his home shaded by bamboo, an unfinished
painting is kept. The piece is proof Poleng remained loyal to his
profession as an idealistic artist.

None of his relatives have any idea who has the key to the
room with a blue door.

"It is difficult to enjoy the beauty of his works and to
comprehend his personality," said poet Mas Ruscitadewi, staring
at the locked room.

A close friend of Poleng said the unfinished painting portrays
a man praying in a pura (Hindu temple) and a peasant working on
his farm nearby and tending to his cattle and ducks. It was still
a sketch. The basic color was yellow, which symbolizes purity,
tranquility and perfectness in Balinese tradition.