The Puri Lukisan Museum - Discover Balinese Art

From the 1930s to today, the artistic output of Bali is kept in the island’s oldest art museum, the Puri Lukisan Ratna Wartha Museum (the Balinese name literally means “the building of paintings"), officially opened in 1956 by the Indonesian Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs, Mohammad Yamin, in the quiet of nature on a hill in the centre of Ubud. Four buildings contain the local art, culture and history in the form of stunning paintings and wooden sculptures created in the most varied of artistic styles. The modern traditional pre-war Balinese paintings and the I Gusti Nyoman Lempad Collection belonging to the celebrated Balinese stone sculptor and architect are held in the Pitamaha Gallery in the first building, where paintings by the island’s European residents can also be found. The second and the third buildings, the Ida Bagus Made Gallery and the Wayang Gallery, host the Ida Bagus Made Estate Collection, that of the original and skilful wood-carver, and the collection of Wayang paintings, the Javanese “shadow theatre”. The temporary exhibitions and new acquisitions are held in the Founders’ Gallery in the last building created about a decade ago on the site of the historic museum. The library, restaurant and caffetteria (balè) are situated on an ample garden with a lotus pond, inviting visitors to linger in their discovery of traditions, practices and customs.