{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":30,"auction_id":1,"set_id":1,"lot_number":"161","artist":"Affandi (1907 - 1990)","title":"Bali Barong","starting_price":600000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1968 (lower left);\ninscribed ‘Bali Barong’ (lower right)","medium":"pastel on paper","size":"24” x 33 1/2” (61 cm x 85 cm)","property":"","coa":null,"provenance":"Christie’s, Modern And Contemporary Art Online 2021,Hong Kong, April 21, 2021, Lot 55","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"Foremost Indonesian modernist Affandi depicts in this work the Barong, a Balinese mythological creature that is regarded as a protector spirit and is depicted as a red-headed lion.
For the Balinese, the Barong represents all that is good and virtuous; he symbolizes justice, righteousness, health, and prosperity.
There is an enduring story in Balinese mythology that tells of the battle between Barong and Rangda, the queen of demons who leads an army of witches. This conflict centers around the Balinese concept of “Rwa Bhineda,” which means “two opposites.” The Balinese believe in dualism— that everything exists as a balance between two opposing forces (good and evil, birth and death, health and sickness, black and white, constructive and destructive, etc.). For the Balinese, this is the world’s natural order.
The concept of Rwa Bhineda is crucial to understanding the said battle. The Balinese people, like most cultures, believe in the eternal and relentless struggle between good and evil. The conflict between Barong and Rangda symbolizes the endless contradiction that is inherently present in the order of all things.
As such, Balinese culture counts among its attributes the Barong Dance, representing Barong and Randa’s clash, which Affandi depicts in this masterpiece. In the work at hand, the Barong, accompanied by his companion monkeys, engages in a fierce war with Rangda and her army of witches. She is eerily depicted with her long, protruding tongue.
Affandi’s chaotic composition and expressionistic swirls, strokes, and sinuous lines evoke the dance’s dynamism and importance in fostering the idea of Rwa Bhineda, that is, the continuous struggle against forces of evil to retain harmony and balance.
Affandi first visited Bali in 1939 and had always frequented the alluring island since then. The Barong dance and its associated myth resonate not only with Affandi’s cultural consciousness but also with his patriotic sentiments. Coming from his experiences as an artist-revolutionary during the Indonesian War for independence from the Dutch Empire, the battle between Barong and Rangda encapsulates the Indonesians’ collective identity as freedom fighters. Thus, through his Bali sojourns and this work, Affandi found even greater meaning in the Indonesian motto of “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” which means “Unity in Diversity.”
In all aspects, Barong is a ringing representation of Affandi’s almost spiritual experience with Bali, which allowed him to exalt his lived experiences, emotions, and creative instincts. (Adrian Maranan)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":0,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":0,"userBid":null,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"UNSOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":0,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":180,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/1/1/lot/161.jpg","isFeatured":1}]},"increment":[450000,500000,550000,600000,650000,700000,750000,800000,900000,1000000,1100000,1200000,1300000,1400000,1500000,1600000,1700000,1800000,1900000,2000000,2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":160,"next":162,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}