Spies paintings tightly guarded

UBUD, Bali: Security authorities are keeping a close watch on the ten paintings by Walter Spies now on display at the Seni Agung Rai Museum.

The exhibition was opened by vice governor Ahim Abdurrahim on Saturday. Dozens of painters and painting enthusiasts from numerous countries attended the ceremony.

Exhibition officials said that the 24-hour security was a necessary precaution in light of the growing popularity of the German artist, who lived in Bali in the 1920s.

Agung Rai, who organized the exhibition in cooperation with the Goethe Institute and the Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture, said he could not estimate the monetary value of works.

"His works are rare. His original paintings number only about 20 all over the world and have been widely reproduced," he said as quoted by Antara.

Four of the paintings on display were from the collection of the presidential palace in Jakarta. They are: Javanese Dancers in the Ninth Century, Village Life in the Ninth Century, Morning in Iseh, and The Hermit. (pan)