Walter Spies – An Exotic Life
Walter Spies, a free-spirited, highly talented painter and musician with a zest for life, hired as a sailor in 1923 and travelled via Java to Bali where he settled in 1927. There, he created fantastic pictures and became the centre of attention for Balinese artists and celebrities like Charlie Chaplin and Vicky Baum, who visited him in his island paradise. For the first time, the fascinating life of this drop-out is presented in a German biography.
He left everything behind: his social status as the son of an industrial magnate, his lover the film director Friedrich Murnau, artist friends like Oskar Kokoschka and Otto Dix. When Walter Spies (1895-1942) immersed himself in the exotic world of Bali, he explored its culture intensively. His magical-realistic paintings revolutionized Balinese art and he continues to be revered in Bali as a brilliant master. Against the backdrop of a breathtaking landscape, his paintings, drawings and watercolours tell of everyday life, of temple ceremonies, cockfights, market scenes or work in the fields. In the author Michael Schindhelm, Walter Spies has found a biographer who traces his unconventional life artfully and with sensitivity.
Available on Amazon.
Michael Schindhelm: Walter Spies – Ein exotisches Leben
Hirmer Verlag
Ca. 248 Seiten, ca. 15 Abbildungen
13,5 x 21 cm, gebunden mit Schutzumschlag und Lesebaendchen
ISBN: 978-3-7774-3023-2
19,90 €
Early teaser of Michael Schindhelm’s upcoming documentary “The Wondrous Life of Walter Spies” :
Drew Taylor:
14 01 2021 | 22:01
Hello Mr.Schindhelm; I am wondering if there is an english language translation of your book “Walter Spies- An Exotic Life, available. I would love to know where and how to get one. I have spent a great deal of time in Bali (and Ubud) in particular. Any information would be appreciated.
Thank you
Drew Taylor
Tony Twigg:
18 07 2021 | 08:07
Hello Mr.Schindhelm; like the previous comment I wonder if there is an English translation of you book. I would very much like to buy a copy. It may interest you to know that I am studying the influence Spies had on on of Australia’s greatest modern artists,Fairweather.
all the best,
tony
Michael Schindhelm:
30 10 2021 | 18:10
Hello Tony,
Thank you for your interest. There is no translation available at the moment.
Best Wishes,
Michael Schindhelm
Michael Schindhelm:
30 10 2021 | 18:10
Hello Drew,
Thank you for your interest. There is no English translation available yet.
Best Wishes,
Michael Schindhelm
Joachim Maier:
28 04 2024 | 12:04
Hallo Herr Schindhelm
Ich lebe seit fuenfzehn Jahren in Indonesien. Walter Spiess hat mich seither fasziniert. Auf meiner Suche nach einem Bild wurden mir unzaehlige Kopien angeboten. Durch eine Zufall fand ich ein Gemaelde welches mir authentisch erscheint. Wie und wo kan ich eine Expertise erhalten.
Freundliche Gruesse
Joachim Maier
Michael Schindhelm:
15 06 2024 | 14:06
Guten Tag Herr Maier, leider kann ich Ihnen das nicht beantworten. Am ehesten kommen wohl Auktionshäuser infrage. Viele Grüße