Vintage J Lonsdale Bryan Original Painting Cremation in Bali No. 1 Balinese Art

Original vintage painting by J. Lonsdale Bryan, titled “Cremation in Bali – No. 1”.

A wonderfully atmospheric and unusual original painting depicting a Balinese cremation ceremony, worked in a rich palette of ochre, gold, earthy brown, black and flashes of red.

The painting has a particularly expressive quality, with figures, ceremonial forms and the tropical landscape emerging from an almost dreamlike background. The loose, energetic handling of the paint gives the work considerable texture and movement.

What makes this painting especially interesting is the information preserved on the reverse, which is hand-inscribed:

J. Lonsdale Bryan
Heskett
Yeovil
Somerset
Cremation in Bali
No. 1

The painting also appears to bear the artist’s signature/monogram towards the lower left of the composition.

Research has so far found very little published information about J. Lonsdale Bryan, and I have therefore deliberately not attributed the artist beyond the information written on the painting itself. The original inscription nevertheless provides an unusually strong piece of provenance, identifying both the artist and his Somerset address together with the title of the work.

The designation “No. 1” is particularly intriguing and may indicate that this formed part of a series of paintings inspired by Bali, although without further documentation this cannot presently be confirmed.

The subject appears to represent the traditional Balinese Hindu cremation ceremony, commonly known as Ngaben, an elaborate ceremonial event associated with the passage of the deceased and the release of the spirit.

Details

Artist: J. Lonsdale Bryan
Title: Cremation in Bali – No. 1
Medium: Painted work on prepared board/canvas-textured board
Dimensions: approximately 50 cm × 40.5 cm
Origin: British artist, address recorded as Heskett, Yeovil, Somerset
Period: Vintage, exact date currently unknown
Framing: Unframed

Condition

Vintage condition with age-related wear.

There is visible wear, rubbing and small losses around the exposed edges and corners, together with surface marks and irregularities consistent with age and the expressive nature of the painting.

Please study all photographs carefully as they form an important part of the condition description.

The painting is being sold unframed.

The reverse has considerable character in its own right and retains the original handwritten artist, address and title information. I have intentionally left this untouched.

A fascinating and highly individual original work, particularly suited to a collector of British mid-century art, Indonesian and Balinese subjects, expressionist painting or unusual pieces with an identifiable history.