Han Snel (1925-1998) Portrait Of A Balinese Woman Indonesia Bali Ubud Fauvism Expressionism

Superb oil on canvas of a Balinese beauty, signed by the painter Han Snel. 

The painter’s technique, full of relief and depth, through different layers of painting juxtaposed, is remarkable.
The colors in the fawn tones, very bright, are beautiful.
This work is of a high format as to accentuate the fine and graceful body of the young Balinese woman. There is a presence of this work.

We can date this oil on canvas from the 1960s - 1970s.
Indeed, Han Snel then moves away from the figurative paintings he used to paint and moves towards an expressionist style as evidenced by this portrait with strong artistic power. 
He will then explore the cubist style.

The work is sold with its wooden frame (accident).
A slight surface friction is to be reported (bottom right).

Dimensions out of frame: 80 x 50 cm
Frame dimensions: 86 x 56 cm

Han Snel (1925-1998)

Han Snel was born on 16 July 1925 in Scheveningen, a seaside town near The Hague in the Netherlands. He studied graphic arts, but was enlisted in 1946 and sent to Indonesia to take control of the newly independent country. The Dutch left Indonesia in 1949, but Han Snel fell in love with Bali and decided to stay. In 1950, he applied for political asylum, became an Indonesian citizen and settled in Ubud, a vibrant art centre. He married a Balinese girl, Made Siti, and embraced Hinduism. He immersed himself in the Balinese traditions that were full of daily rituals and temple. He built a traditional Balinese house and studio in an alley off the main road near Ubud’s market place. His workshop is still here today.

His early Balinese works (1950 – 1960) describe his fascination with the idyllic life of Bali. Balinese women and their daily family and ritual activities become her main source of inspiration. He has produced numerous portraits of the Balinese beauties and representations of their daily activities, which combine romanticism with exuberant raw food and bright colors from early European wildlife artists. Influenced by her graphic training, the figurative compositions were rather flat and shallow, with a simplified background of the surroundings.

As life in Bali gradually changed, Han Snel aspired to break with the tradition of figurative realism. As early as the 1960s, he began to explore expressionism and cubism, which reached a transitory peak in the early 1970s. He was still enchanted by the market scenes that abounded near his home. In the 1990s, his style completely folded into itself, as if external stimulation no longer existed, and he produced mainly abstract works with darker, sometimes even dark colors. The figures disappear and the exuberant and bright colors of the tropics evaporate from his compositions.
We are looking for works by this painter, as well as Indonesian paintings. 

Photos are taken in natural light.
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