Lot 65 Dα

Sonnega drew inspiration for his work from his deep affection for Bali and its inhabitants. This is reflected in many paintings with single representations of Balinese girls wearing typical Balinese frangipani flowers in their hair and peg-like ear jewelry. The present work, however, differs from the other paintings in that it shows three young women in palatial interiors. Although it is a group portrait, they each appear indifferent and absent and the representation thus looks like a composition of individual portraits staggered in depth. While the girl in the foreground looks out of the picture in a kind of lost profile, the girl in the middle ground is shown as a bust portrait. She holds a silver kendi including a bowl in front of her chest. Such kendis were used for drinking water, for example at wedding ceremonies. The body of the girl combing her hair in the background, on the other hand, is almost completely reproduced. The cropping and orientation of the portrayed person thus reinforce the aloofness.