How to Understand and Enjoy Balinese Paintings

The illustrations and reproductions of paintings in this book draw heavily on the Wayang (puppet) traditions in telling stories about demons, gods, sacred animals, and grotesque figures and their relationship to each other and the unseen viewers or audience. Not surprisingly, many painters emphasize the mythic past, its symbols, and its image as personal commentary about current social problems, issues, and dilemmas. A final chapter deals with various obstacles a prospective buyer faces in acquiring an original work of art. RENE PERITZ is a retired professor with extensive experience in Asia. He is a PhD graduate in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and a Graduate Gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America. More recently, he has pursued his interests in Asian culture by occasionally lecturing in Asia and on cruise lines about political and cultural traditions.