The Kecak Dancer, Bali
signed and dated 1997 (left)
oil on canvas
60” x 48” (152 cm x 122 cm)

Provenance:
Larasati Singapore, Anonymous Sale, 26 January 2013, lot 14.

Part dance, part drama, Indonesia’s famous “Kecak” tells the tale of the daring rescue of Princess Sita by Prince Rama and his cohort, the Monkey-King Varana.

Traditionally timed to unfold as the pink and coral hues of the Balinese sunset streaked the sky, the Kecak combines fire, color, and the hypnotic “cak” chant that gives the dance its name. Discovered and popularized by the iconic Dutch-Indonesian artist Walter Spies in the 1930s, it is no wonder that the Kecak likewise captured the imagination of Jeremias Navarro a generation later.

Navarro was later to comment on his Kecak series, “For the first time in my life as an artist, I felt afraid -- afraid that what I would put on canvas would not match the glories of what have I seen” – so amazed was he at the blur of bodies and costumes as the dancers flew across the temple sands. Essentially, Navarro sought to distill the layers of movement in strong, unexpected color combinations, breaking with the accepted norms of the day.

Jeremias Elizalde Navarro was one of the most triumphant post-war Philippine art nomads, travelling as Hidalgo and Luna before him to other lands to stretch his wings and ultimately selecting Bali as his second home. He ached to share its splendors with his friend Carlos “Botong” Francisco, who he teased “would have given his right arm to have a ringside seat to behold the beauties of the island paradise.” (Botong and Navarro were so close that Botong stood as witness at Navarro’s wedding to sculptress Virginia Ty. Jerry in turn would join in with the painting of Botong’s various murals-in-progress.) Navarro also noted that “it would have touched his fellow artist’s heart to know that the prancing monkey-god was not just any body, but the friendly plumber who lived next door from his losmen (boarding house) and was also an occasional painter inn the traditional Balinese manner.”

Indeed, if Botong had his Angono, Jerry Navarro had Bali. Both reveled in the same simplicity of daily life and sense of community amid a landscape of stunning beauty.

It was also in Indonesia where Navarro was to find the greatest recognition: His works form part of the collection of the prestigious Neka Fine Arts Musuem in Ubud, Bali which features the works of both local and foreign artists who have become influential on the Balinese art scene while the famous Bamboo Gallery, also in Bali, represented his pieces in all forms of media. His works are equally sought after by Indonesian and international collectors as they are by Filipinos.

For Navarro, Bali was a feast of the senses, a painter’s playground: “Bali just stuns you with colors. A very vigorous and freeprofusion of colors in the Bali palette plays a major role in the unfolding of life there. You see this in the dresses of the women, the ceremonial piles of food and flowers for a temple offering, the gilded costumes of dancers and performer which would put to shame the finery of the peacock and the bird of paradise.”

“The Kecak Dancer, Bali” is one of the largest, if not the most riveting, piece in Navarro’s series of this theme.

The Princess appears to be floating, both entranced and amazed, in a golden whirl of sun-kissed colors, diadem and sari ablaze, hands in the ritual position of flight and freedom. The Monkey-King, who uses his wit in releasing the Princess, is enveloped in the ceremonial smoke from a thousand torches, a reminder that the dance is one of the deeply spiritual facets of the Hindu religion. His checkered sarong is a nod to the traditional garb of the 150 chanting men whose mantra is captured in the almost-psychedelic composition.

Originally acquired from the artist through the Bamboo Gallery, before appearing for the first time at the Larasati Singapore auction two years ago.

Jeremias Elizalde Navarro was named Philippine National Artist for Visual Arts in 1999.

Source : “Bali on My Mind”, by J. Elizalde Navarro. Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 15, 1989, page 27.