Theo Meier

Theo Meier
Description:
Theo Meier (1908-1982; Basel, Switzerland) studied at the Basel School of Art in Switzerland and also in West Germany. He was inspired by the expressionist paintings of Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903), Emil Nolde (German, 1867-1956), and Max Pechstein (German, 1881-1955). Meier went to French Polynesia in the 1930s in search of inspiration from paradise. He lived in Bali from 1936-1961 and painted many works in warm tropical colors of the woman and ceremonies of Bali. Exhibitions: East-West Center (Honolulu, Hawaii, 1988), Singapore Art Museum (1994), Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Jakarta, Indonesia, 1996)
  Title : Rejang Dance
  Artist : Theo Meier
  Media : Oil on canvas
  Size : 112 x 132 cm
  Year : 1972
Description:
The rejang is a ceremonial dance performed for the deities by ritually pure females, usually young pre-pubescent girls or older post-menstrual women. Movements tend to be rather slow and repetitive, with beauty coming from its simplicity. In many villages in the district of Karangasem in east Bali, dancers wear lovely crowns of leaves and flowers which resemble those used in parts of Polynesia. This points to a Pacific-Oceanic side of Bali that survives in spite of Indian influences. Colors are warm and evoke the tropics. A smoking incense brazier is held by a priest.