Numerous foreign artists have made Bali their home and created their own themes and styles in painting the Balinese and their culture and religion. Bali became an artist enclave for avant-garde artists such as Walter Spies, Rudolf Bonnet, Arie Smit and the most famous being Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur who married Ni Pollock, a renowned legong dancer. The 1920’s saw an artistic flurry on the island and the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias noted that local paintings served primarily religious or ceremonial functions. Han Snel was another of these foreign artists to grace the shores of Bali. Han Snel was born in 1925 in Scheveningen, in the Netherlands. After his arrival in 1946 with the Dutch military forces he was immediately tasked with fighting Japanese troops and the newly born army of the Republic of Indonesia. As most visiting artists do, Snel immediately fell in love with the island. Like Mayeur, he married a local girl and subsequently applied for Indonesian citizenship and embraced Balinese Hinduism. In Ubud there is an exhibition of Han Snel’s paintings that most visitors who have a penchant for art will like to see.
Han Snel’s Retrospective Exhibition
May 26-June 26
Han Snel Restaurant & Siti Bungalow
Jl. Kajeng 3, Ubud
Phone: 0361-975699
