Virgin of Bali: The Face of a Balinese Girl That Still Captivates After 86 Years

JAKARTA, Jakartaweekly.com— Amid the vibrant colors and experimental forms of contemporary art, an 86-year-old painting is drawing the attention of visitors at Art Jakarta 2026. It does not rely on striking colors or a large-scale installation. Instead, Virgin of Bali by renowned painter Antonio Blanco quietly stands out, seemingly transporting viewers to a time when the beauty of Bali was captured through the eyes of a painter.

Painted in 1940, the oil-on-canvas work portrays a young Balinese girl with a gentle face and a calm, serene gaze. Her black hair is neatly pulled back, while a white cloth frames her head. The subtle treatment of her skin and the red tones of her lips bring warmth and life to the otherwise simple portrait.

A dark background draws attention to the girl’s face. The contrast between light and shadow makes the figure appear to emerge from the canvas, while Blanco’s brushwork maintains a softness across her features.

At Art Jakarta 2026, Conno Gallery is displaying the work not simply as an object waiting to change hands. The gallery acknowledges that Virgin of Bali serves another purpose: it draws visitors in, giving them a reason to stop, look and then explore the other works on display.

Kevin Renardi, Gallery Director of Conno Gallery, said the gallery has held the painting since around 2019, after acquiring it from a collector. From the beginning, he said, the work was not regarded simply as a piece that needed to be sold as quickly as possible.

“We just wanted to have a master here,” Kevin said.

For Conno Gallery, a work such as Virgin of Bali brings something different to the collection of works presented at the fair. Its historical value and quality give it what Kevin describes as a museum-quality appeal.

Its presence also gives visitors a reason to linger. After stopping in front of a painting that has survived for decades, their attention can naturally move toward the other works displayed around it.

“We want people to come here. It’s just meant to be a draw,” Kevin said.

There is something intriguing about the way an old painting can assume a role within a modern art fair. While some contemporary works compete for attention through scale, materials, technology or complex ideas, Virgin of Bali does not need to do much. It simply presents the face of a woman. Yet that face carries a long journey through time.

Antonio Blanco is known for his close connection with Bali and its artistic life. In Virgin of Bali, his focus on the Balinese woman is evident in the way the girl occupies the center of the composition. There is no busy background to distract the eye and no oversized object competing with her face. Its simplicity is precisely where its strength lies.

The painting was created in 1940, long before Art Jakarta became the meeting point for galleries, collectors, artists and contemporary art audiences that it is today. Over the decades, the world has changed countless times, yet the figure in the painting has remained where Blanco placed her, gazing out from behind the canvas.

That may be what makes an old work like this feel so distinctive when placed in the middle of a contemporary art fair. It does not compete with the present. Instead, it brings its own time with it.

According to Kevin, Virgin of Bali is documented in a book about President Sukarno’s painting collection, which the gallery uses as a reference. He described the work as one of the paintings Blanco gave to President Sukarno at the time, when Sukarno was known for his interest in art.

That account adds another layer to the painting’s journey. If the historical trail described in the book is followed, the canvas now displayed at Art Jakarta is not only a record of a Balinese woman’s face, but also part of the history of art collecting during the early years of the Indonesian Republic. Yet in front of visitors at Art Jakarta 2026, that history does not need to be shouted.

Simply standing before the painting is enough to see how a work created in 1940 can still make people stop amid a sea of new works.

Conno Gallery has priced Virgin of Bali at Rp2.5 billion. That makes it one of the higher-value works brought by the gallery to the fair. But for Kevin, its price is not the only reason it has been brought to Art Jakarta.

Its significance as an important work is the more fundamental consideration. An art fair, after all, is not only about transactions. In a space where artworks meet potential buyers, there is also an opportunity to introduce, revisit and reconnect audiences with works that have traveled through decades of history.

Virgin of Bali fulfills that role in its own way. It does not require visitors to understand complex theories of art, nor does it offer interactive technology. It does not even need explosive colors to command attention. The face of a Balinese girl is enough.

Her calm gaze, the white cloth around her head, her neatly arranged black hair and the dark background make the figure feel both simple and distant. She is a figure from the past who remains present in the here and now, carrying Antonio Blanco’s vision of Bali through a canvas that has survived for more than eight decades.

Amid changing tastes, technology and the ways people experience art, Virgin of Bali serves as a reminder that a painting does not necessarily have to follow its time to remain relevant.

Sometimes, precisely because it comes from another era, a work of art has the power to make us stop.

Amid the bustle of Art Jakarta 2026, Virgin of Bali does not demand attention. The painting simply stands in silence, preserving the face Antonio Blanco painted in 1940. Eighty-six years later, that face can still make people stop and look.