BALI, 1930s

Works from the Donald Friend Collection
Sydney
27 October 2013
177

BOMAKAWYA, LANGSE

BALI, 1930s

pigment on European cotton cloth

152.0 x 128.0 cm

Estimate: 
$2,000 - 4,000
Sold for $4,800 (inc. BP) in Auction 31 - 27 October 2013, Sydney
Catalogue text

The Bomakawya (or Bomantaka) is an epic narrative relating the battle between Kresna and the Boma. The top-right scene of the painting shows Kresna enter the battlefield. The left scene is the decisive battle between Kresna in his angry thousand-headed (pamurtian) form as Wisnu on his vehicle Garuda. Wisnu (Kresna) strikes Boma on the head and his crown falls off allowing Garuda to snatch the wijayamala flower and break his resistance. This small langse has a length of red and white printed cotton fabric attached along the bottom edge, enabling it to function as a screening curtain.