I Nyoman Ngendon

From the Bateson-Mead records of 1937: I NGENDON CENTRAL - SERIOUS ABOUT 20 HIGH SKILL FIRST WAVE LITERATE INTERVIEWED SPEAKS MALAY 9 PICTURES T Questionnaire: Den Tiis, kaula, T estimated age in 38 as 24, same as Ida Bagoes Putu Tantra poor, still living with father, not yet married. names of siblings: I Kisid, Ni Djenek, I Ngendon, Ni Bega, I Poendoeh, I Dengeh. father farms, Ngendon only makes pictures school for 5 years, can read, write and speak Malay, can't read or write Balinese doesn't gamble Mentioned in other interviews: Blotjok, Diding, Djata, Keteg, Lanoes, Poendoeh, Radjeg, Roeka, Sanoer, Santer, Tibah, Tjeta, Tjoekit, IBMTogog, Tombelos.

The earliest date of birth is 1903, but 1911 or 1914/15 more likely. The date in the book Patah Tumbuh Hilang Berganti of 1922 is too late.

The founding figure of the Batuan school. Hildred Geertz's research shows that he went to school for five years (to the Voorvolgschool, Sukawati), and could speak Malay, as well as some Dutch and English.   Worked also as an entrepreneur, and had contact with a number of westerners, including Hubolt and Resink. He also spent time in the Theo Meier studios in Sanur or Iseh. During the Japanese occupation, he went to Yogyakarta where he reportedly met with Sukarno and learned nationalist ideas (other sources say 1930 or 1938, but both are too early). He probably did this through contact with the artist, Affandi, and Ngendon joined the nationalist art group Persagi. Also became a member of Parindra. In Yogyakarta he knew Soebroto Aryo Mataram, the son of Ki Hajar Dewantara. During WWII he was sponsored by the Japanese to organise exhibitions of Balinese artists in East Java (info: NIOD newspaper sources courtesy Antariksa). Never married. He became a local leader of the nationalist movement when returning to Bali after the Japanese surrender. Became at Letda under Ngurah Rai and Aryo Mataram, was captured in Ketewel and executed in 1946, 47 or '48.  For a more detailed bibliographical account, see H. Geertz (1994: 18, 108).   Hohn lists Ngendon as been executed in 1946 (Hohn 1997: 51), a date confirmed by a correspondence between Van Wessem and Bonnet in the Margaret Mead archives, which describes his death as occuring in 1946. The book Patah Tumbuh Hilang Berganti gives his death as 1947, in the graveyard of Den Tiis, other sources say 1948.