A prodigious example of classic Lake Sentani maro painting on bark cloth. These inventive paintings captivated the Paris art scene of the 1920s-1930s.  In terms of its overall dynamic composition, brilliantly rendered figures, and generous size, this is one of the finest antique Lake Sentani barkcloth paintings still in the private domain. In terms of Indonesian fiber and textile arts, painted bark cloths are of unparalleled historical importance due to their influence on the Western art movement known as surrealism. The umbilical connections between Primitivism and Modernism are ably documented in Bill Rubin's landmark exhibition and classic two-volume catalog. 

In 1946, legendary gallerist Pierre Loeb, writing about his favorite Lake Sentani statue (now situated in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco), proclaimed, "It is now in a beautiful collection of African and Oceanic art, where among other cult objects, it continues its intense, eternal, secret life, this mysterious life which the artists of our day have attempted to capture. They have captured only its exterior, so difficult it is to once again become so simply, so profoundly human."