When one looks on the Balinese paintings, one will say they are now modern-produced arts. The influence carried by foreign painters and artists that came and live in Bali is reflected in current Balinese paintings. Various kinds of Balinese paintings from different styles can be now found in scores of art galleries in Ubud, the home of Balinese paintings.

In the beginning of 20th century the art life in Bali is determined by traditional skill. Each kingdom in Bali had undagi (craftsmen) whose skills were used to produce sacred arts. They did their works in religious context.

In the early time, the Balinese Hindus produced three main types of paintings. The first, called ider-ider, were cotton scroll paintings in the shape of banners, usually two meters long and 30 cm wide, hung under the eaves of shrines during festivals.

The second type, langse, were large rectangular pieces of painted cloth, up to 15 meters long and four meters wide, suspended from puri pavilions or used as curtains to partition off areas of a temple.

Both the ider-ider and the langse were religious narrative paintings characterized by a flat, stiff, formal style-a serial representation of people, gods, and demons painted according to a very strict traditional formula and lacking in all emotion.

The third type of traditional painting was the astrological calendar, pelelintangan, examples of which exist to this day.

In the 1930s, the Balinese paintings changed intensely when European artists began to settle in Ubud. The names, Rudolf Bonnet, an artist from Holland (1895-1978), Walter Spies (1895-1942) an artist from Germany, Swiss painter Theo Meier (1908-1982) and Belgian artist Le Mayeur (1880-1958) cannot be separated from the development in modern Balinese paintings. Bonnet, for instance, introduced the material of paintings to Balinese artists to meet the market demand, he also suggested the daily life as the theme for their paintings. Most importantly, Bonnet introduced copy right to the artists as he asked the painters to sign their names on their paintings.

The change is apparent in technique, theme and function. The foreign artists introduced the local artistic community new painting technology such as oil paints, goache, canvas and brushes and also shifted the function of art a s a form of devotion to saleable product. For instance, the wayang stories and tale stories changed into simple, daily objects that easily understood by the non-Balinese art consumers. The artisans did not work for the kingdom anymore instead they work for the money.

In the early 1960s tourists were coming to Ubud to see local paintings and many of them bought and brought the paintings back to their countries. The Balinese paintings gain popularity. Thereafter, Balinese artists founded galleries and art shops selling paintings, statues, cloth and other souvenirs emerged. The galleries collection now can also be found in our selection.