As a curious and avid traveller, Le Mayeur produced paintings that were visual reflections and documentations of his adoration for Bali’s rich cultures, heritage and locale. The Belgian-born painter found his home on Bali’s coast in 1932, and was later joined by his lifelong muse and wife, Ni Pollok. In a moment of serendipitous fate, the pair stumbled upon one another during one of Pollok’s Legong dance performances, which precipitated a lifet.mes filled with love, companionship and affection. The present lot features his wife Ni Pollok dancing with refined elegance, ensconced in a verdant haven surrounded by lush foliage, ancient mythological sculptures, and overlooking the Sanur beach, which lures the viewer’s eye towards a peaceful horizon in the distance.

Through this masterful command of space, Le Mayeur takes care to carve out the contours of the two women with a mellifluous medley of natural shadows and highlights, as subtle shades of burnt orange and warm gold differentiate the areas of skin that are dappled with sunlight and shade. Often found sketching or drawing en plein air, entirely immersed within the masses of bougainvillea, frangipani, hibiscus that he planted with loving care, Le Mayeur’s acute sensitivity to the chromatic brilliance of Bali’s blooming vegetation is fully expressed in Two Women Dancing in the Garden. For Le Mayeur, his garden was the secret utopia in which he could fully immerse himself within Bali’s rich cultures, elegant dancers and natural vistas, and he took extreme care to permeate it with traditional motifs and mythological sculptures. Le Mayeur’s appreciation for the sacred cultural rituals of Bali is brought to light here, as effigies are pictured flanking the dancers, drawing a parallel between their aged t.mes lessness and the youthful beauty of the dancers between them.

With an artistic interpretation that is characteristic of Indo-European figurative paintings, Le Mayeur counterbalances notions of depth and perspective and captures perfectly the dignified elegance of the physical female form. Le Mayeur suspends a perfect moment in t.mes , as candied pinks and oranges dance across the canvas with a lightness and acuity that is synonymous with this master of Impressionism. The Balinese maidens appear to be blissfully unaware of the onlooker, as they circle the enclave, almost floating in their gentleness. In the background, the azure ocean ripples in quiet serenity, as Le Mayeur sequesters the two ladies amongst a rich assemblage of intertwined flora, vegetation and greenery. At the core of Le Mayeur’s works are evocations of his immediate responses to the unspoiled elements and aesthetics of Bali, and Two Women Dancing in the Garden is no exception.

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勒邁耶熱愛旅行、求知若渴，他的作品是峇里島人文生活、悠長歷史與明媚風光的寫照及視覺紀錄。勒邁耶生於比利時，自1932年起長居峇里，隨後與靈感女神、妻子妮・帕洛共諧連理。在命運交錯的一瞬，二人在妮・帕洛的一場雷貢舞表演中偶然邂逅，從此互訂終生，開展了互助互愛、相濡以沫的人生旅程。在本畫中，勒邁耶之妻妮・帕洛置身於一個翠意盎然的遮蔭角落，伊人正沉醉在優雅迷人的舞蹈之中，四週綠植環繞，佈滿古代神話雕塑，後方的沙努爾海灘美景將觀者的視角拉向遠方寧靜和諧的地平線。

勒邁耶擅長拿捏空間感，並巧妙揉合自然高光與陰影，精心勾勒出兩位女子的軀體輪廓；他以焦橙色與溫暖的金黃色營造細膩暗影，點綴出陽光和陰影投射下的不同肌膚顏色。勒邁耶常在戶外素描及寫生，全心投入於他悉心栽培的九重葛、素馨花和芙蓉花簇之中。《園中倆舞者》完全展現他對峇里島那芳華萬千的色彩盛宴的敏銳感受。 在本作中，兩位舞者左右各有神像一尊，神像古老不朽的魅力與兩位舞者的青春美貌相映成趣，體現了勒邁耶對峇里祭祀文化習俗的仰慕與崇敬之情。

勒邁耶以飄逸輕靈的細緻筆觸，使蜜粉色與粉橘色畫面上翩然起舞，將純美的一剎永恆定格，是這位印象派大師風格的最佳寫照。畫中的峇里女子大方純樸、雍容自若，在畫中的隱蔽角落盤旋起舞，翩翩若飛，看似對觀者的目光渾然不覺。背景中，蔚藍的海洋在和諧恬靜中泛起漣漪，勒邁耶以一雙巧手，將畫面中的兩位女子以青蔥綠植、繁茂花卉及蓊鬱枝葉緊緊包裹，自成一角。勒邁耶的作品神髓，往往反映了他對峇里島上未受玷污的自然環境、遠離塵囂的脫俗之美的當下感觸，而《園中倆舞者》絕對是當中的表表者。