Unknown
Temptation of Arjunaearly 20th century

Not on view

Painted or printed horizontal textile panel with cream ground, showing multiple elaborately crowned figures, a central palm-like tree, flying birds, and sun rosettes, in red, blue, green, and gold

Partially unrolled horizontal scroll with blank cream-colored paper or silk, showing aged discoloration and creasing, with a wooden roller visible at the right edge.

Horizontal scroll of aged, cream-colored paper or silk with dark borders at top and bottom, showing faint discoloration and subtle texture across the surface.

Partially unrolled handscroll with plain cream-colored paper or silk, showing age-related toning and discoloration; wooden roller visible at left edge.

Painted textile with a horizontal narrative scene on cream ground, featuring multiple crowned and elaborately dressed figures amid stylized red and gold architectural elements, flowering plants, and colorful birds in flight. Rendered in red, green, blue, and gold with flat, linear figural style characteristic of Balinese painting traditions.

Balinese painted textile on white cloth with zigzag border, depicting a royal or divine couple enthroned within a red tiered shrine, surrounded by numerous attendant figures in traditional dress, rendered in red, yellow, green, and blue with fine linear detail.

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Temptation of Arjuna
Place Made: Indonesia, Bali, possibly Kamasan (Klungkung)
Date Made: early 20th century
Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink, and charcoal on cloth
Dimensions: 33 1/4 x 132 1/8 in. (84.46 x 335.6 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Southern Asian Art Council, the Ethnic Arts Council, Paula Fouce, Linda Jayne in memory of Allen Jayne, Mark Johnson in memory of Jo Jean Johnson, Arline Lloyd in memory of David Lloyd, Lisa Gimmy, and the South and Southeast Asian Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2011.47
Classification: Drawings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: This painted scroll epitomizes the court paintings that flourished in Bali in the village of Kamasan between the mid-19th and early 20th century. Narrative paintings depicting mythological subjects were commissioned by the nearby kingdom of Klungkung to decorate palaces and temples for royal rituals and special occasions such as weddings. This scroll illustrates a scene from Barata-Yuda, a local version of the Indian Mahabharata. It depicts the story of Arjuna, a major hero of the epic, who is shown meditating atop Mount Indrakila in preparation for a great battle with the demon Niwatakawaca. The Hindu god Indra sends a troupe of beautiful nymphs to test his spiritual prowess by dancing erotically around Arjuna. Formerly in the Ananda Coomaraswamy Family Collection.

Western scholars and artists came to Bali in the 1920s, enthralled with what they considered a paradisiacal and unrecorded culture. Anthropologists such as Margaret Mead (1901-1978) and Gregory Bateson (1904-1980) created in their scholarship an idealized cultural template, while artists such as Walter Spies (1895-1942), Rudolph Bonnet (1895-1978), and Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957) created artistic styles based on local and Western artistic models. Balinese artists quickly adopted these new styles, which encouraged them to experiment with traditional Kamasan forms. Such experimentations led to the formation of a modernist painting tradition in Bali and subsequently across Indonesia through the 20th century.
Selected Exhibition History: The Temptation of Arjuna: A Tale of Spiritual Triumph. December 22, 2012 - November 10, 2013
The Temptation of Arjuna: A Tale of Spiritual Triumph. December 22, 2012 - November 10, 2013

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