My blog has been a bit quiet lately. I can assure you that I haven't fallen into holiday comatose state. I've just been quite busy painting among other things that partly involving some plans for a possible future trip to Indonesia, with Bali as part of my destination. This time I'll be spending most of my time in Ubud area, which is known as the arts center of Bali. I've been to the area way before all the hype from Eat Pray Love movie. I look forward to visiting more museums this time as I didn't get enough time to explore them during my last visit. All the thought from my last visit got me thinking of my visit to The Blanco Renaissance Museum in Campuan, Ubud.
Antonio Blanco was a Spanish painter born and raised in the Phillipines. He studied at the National Academy of Art in New York, traveled around the world, and finally landed in Bali in 1952. The King of Ubud gave him a piece of land in the hilltop of Campuan, Ubud to build his home and studio, where Blanco lived and worked until his death in 1999. Sadly, he passed away just before he saw his dream turning his big studio into a museum fulfilled in the inauguration of the museum. However, Mario Blanco, his son and also a painter himself, continued to fulfill his dad's dream of opening a museum to the public and maintaining it until today.
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| Marble Entrance Gate of the Museum |
I was impressed with how the museum didn't only showcase his paintings but also preserved his presence in the entire place.The artist's
studio was left the way it was and the setting of the museum was just like somebody's big mansion with a lot of artworks. The mansion itself was a blend of European style and Balinese ornaments. There was some friendly staff that greeted me with happy smiles and yummy tropical beverages. One lady gave me the tour of the entire museum, including the studio, while sharing stories about the artist and each displayed work. Antonio Blanco is known as a maestro of romantic expressive painting. There was around three hundred collection of paintings, which mainly focused on female forms, made from the start of his career in 1937 until his latest works in 1999. I didn't take any photos inside the museum since the museum didn't allow visitors to take photo of the paintings to protect them. You can, however, view more of his works from the museum's
website . The images of his oil paintings on the museum's web are unfortunately too small and too low in resolution to see the details. You could check out some of their
videos to get a better idea of his works and learn more of the museum.
The museum also had an enchanting tropical garden filled with Antonio Blanco's pets like macaws, and cockatoos. It's truly a dream studio for any artists to work and live.
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| Love birds at the garden |
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| Beautiful Garden |
