Romualdo Locatelli began painting in his family workshop in Bergamo, completing his training at the Academy of Carrara. The Legong Dancer (1939) was painted during Locatelli’s stay in Bali, Indonesia. He depicts the sinuous movement of a young dancer holding a fan. The luminous brushstrokes suggest the musicality of the Legong dance while the isolated figure is interrupted by the photographic cut given to the painting. Legong is a secular Balinese dance genre from the nineteenth century originally associated with the royal palace and successively performed in villages and at temple ceremonies. Since the 1920s, Legong dances have featured in overseas tours, becoming an iconic image of the Balinese culture. When Locatelli attended Legong spectacles, the dance was still only performed by prepubescent girls who usually retired after marrying. Child dancers and young maidens are recurring subjects in Locatelli’s production around 1939 (Barong Dancer; Javanese Dancer; Young Balinese). They are depicted in suspended and exotic scenarios that inevitably recall Gauguin’s experience in Tahiti.
—Carmen Belmonte
