Theo Meier

Full Name: Theo Meier
Pen Name
Photograph by
Link to Photograph
Website for biography
Place
Related Music
Related Books
Related Scholars Articles

Biography

In English

Theo Meier was born in 1908 in Basle, Switzerland. He was educated in the arts at the Basle School of the Arts. He had worked as a portrait painter for the University of Basle. He made his first trip to Berlin, where he met Liebermann and Hofer at the Berlin Academy, as well as Emil Nolde, one of the contemporary painters he admired most. He studied with Otto Dix who influenced him greatly.

Meier left Europe for the South Pacific at the age of 24. To finance his travels, he founded a club, where each member promised a monthly fee in exchange for which they could choose one of Meier's paintings upon his return. He sailed to Papeete via Guadeloupe, Martinique, and the Panama Canal, inspired by the beauty he encountered, but also disillusioned by the presence of Western influence.

After returning briefly to Basel, he went to Bali where his life was changed forever. In Bali, he found an innocence that he did not find in Tahiti. He befriended the German painter Walter Spies, and later moved into the German artist's bamboo house. He married his first Balinese wife in 1936. When the Japanese arrived in Bali in 1941, Meier was granted permission to stay in Bali, unlike his friend Walter Spies who met his death aboard a prisoner of war ship crossing the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, many of his paintings were lost, some of which were given to Japanese sailors. After the war, Meier remarried, fathering a daughter.

After 15 years in Southeast Asia, Meier briefly returned to Switzerland, but then returned to Bali, followed by Thailand. In 1957, he married Laiad, his third wife. In 1961, Meier moved to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, where he lived with Laiad in a beautiful teak house on the banks of the Ping River. He was a prolific artist and continued to paint until his death in Thailand in 1982.

In Balinese

In Indonesian

Theo Meier lahir pada tahun 1908 di Basle, Swiss. Dia mengenyam pendidikan seni di Sekolah Seni Basle. Dia pernah bekerja sebagai pelukis potret untuk University of Basle. Dia melakukan perjalanan pertama ke Berlin, di mana dia bertemu Liebermann dan Hofer di Akademi Berlin, dan juga Emil Nolde, salah satu pelukis kontemporer yang paling dia kagumi. Dia belajar dengan Otto Dix yang sangat memengaruhinya.

Meier meninggalkan Eropa menuju Pasifik Selatan pada usia 24 tahun. Untuk membiayai perjalanannya, ia mendirikan sebuah klub, di mana setiap anggotanya menjanjikan sejumlah uang bulanan, sebagai gantinya mereka dapat memilih salah satu lukisan Meier sekembalinya. Dia berlayar ke Papeete melalui Guadeloupe, Martinik, dan Terusan Panama, terinspirasi oleh keindahan yang dia temui, tetapi juga kecewa dengan kehadiran pengaruh Barat.

Setelah kembali sebentar ke Basel, dia pergi ke Bali di mana hidupnya berubah selamanya. Di Bali, dia menemukan kepolosan yang tidak dia temukan di Tahiti. Dia berteman dengan pelukis Jerman Walter Spies, dan kemudian pindah ke rumah bambu seniman Jerman itu. Ia menikah dengan istri Bali pertamanya pada tahun 1936. Ketika Jepang tiba di Bali pada tahun 1941, Meier mendapat izin untuk tinggal di Bali, tidak seperti temannnya Walter Spies yang menemui ajalnya di atas kapal tawanan perang yang melintasi Samudera Hindia. Sayangnya, banyak lukisannya yang hilang, beberapa diberikan kepada pelaut Jepang. Setelah perang, Meier menikah lagi, menjadi ayah seorang putri.

Setelah 15 tahun di Asia Tenggara, Meier sempat kembali ke Swiss sebentar, tapi kemudian kembali ke Bali, disusul Thailand. Pada tahun 1957, dia menikah dengan Laiad, istri ketiganya. Pada tahun 1961, Meier pindah ke Chiang Mai, Thailand Utara, di mana ia tinggal bersama Laiad di sebuah rumah jati yang indah di tepi Sungai Ping. Ia adalah seorang seniman yang produktif dan terus melukis hingga kematiannya di Thailand pada tahun 1982.

Examples of work

karya 1

karya 2

karya 3