Walter Spies
A View from the Heights (Oil on canvas, 1934) depicts a village life in the tropical island. The sky is reflected within the monsoon waterbeds on paddy fields. Also visible is the sacred Gunung Agung volcano.
Walter Spies
The Landscape and Her Children (Oil on board, 1939) is his best-known work, and was painted from a Dutch prison in Surabaya. The painting, which is hailed as fine example of magical realism, depicts changes in feelings and subconscious attitudes.
Walter Spies
The night festival in Djogja (Oil on canvas, 1926) shows the people of Java interacting and being amazed with magic lantern. The light from the box shows the bronze skin and the sculpted bodies of the Javanese people, who Spies admired.
Walter Spies
The Ice Skaters (Oil on canvas, 1920) is believed to exhibit all the characteristics of Spies’ passionate interests in primitivist art. The painting shows a group of recreational skaters on a frozen lake, surrounded by trees.
Walter Spies
Sumatran Landscape (Oil on canvas, 1941) is one of Spies’ last paintings. This painting is the most European of the artist’s paintings in the Dutch East Indies and is almost devoid of Orientalist elements.
Walter Spies
The Death of Arya Penangsang (Oil on canvas, 1929) depicts a popular Javanese folk story, dating back to the 16th century. Arya Penangsang, a nobleman, was defeated and killed in the battlefield.
Walter Spies
View through the Palms (Oil on canvas, 1938) which depicts a grand palace seen from a great distance by a solitary person carrying water. It was also painted when Spies was imprisoned.
