Bibliography of Indonesian Art

  • The Art Of Indonesia, by Frits A. Wagner, Greystone Press, NY, revised edition, 1967. A dated, but still classic, survey.
  • Art Of Indonesia: Pusaka, Periplus, 1998. Meandering essays but good large-format photographs from the collection of the National Museum in Jakarta.
  • Blue Guide: Bali, Java, and Lambok, by Gavin Pattison. A&C Black, London, and WW Norton, NY, 2000. This book is now out of print, and contains less site-specific information than other books in the Blue Guide series. Nevertheless, it still serves as an introductory cultural guide to Indonesia.
  • Borobudur: Golden Tales of the Buddhas, by John Miksic, Periplus, Fifth Printing 2000. An excellent guide to Borobudur, with comprehensive photos, essays, and descriptions.
  • Cultural Sites of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, Jaques Dumarcay and Michael Smithies, Oxford University Press, 1998. This book concentrates on architecture, with many black-and-white photographs and axiometric drawings. However, it is oddly lacking in basic data such as site plans and numerical dimensions.
  • Icons of Art: The Collections of the National Museum of Indonesia, BAB Publishing, Indonesia, Second Edition, 2007. A well-produced survey of the Jakarta museum.
  • Indonesia: The Discovery Of The Past, KIT Publishers, Amsterdam, 2005. The catalogue of a joint exhibition that temporarily reunited some important objects from the collections of Amsterdam and Jakarta. Most of the essays in this book are of museological, rather than art-historical, interest.
  • Island of Bali, by Miguel Covarrubias, Alfred A. Knopf publishers, 1946/1973. A dated but still relevant cultural history of the island, including anthropological data and photographs.
  • Monumental Bali, by A.J. Bernet Kempers, Periplus, 1991. A useful guide to the monuments of Bali.
  • The Sculpture Of Indonesia, National Gallery Of Art, Washington, DC, 1990. The catalogue of an important exhibition of Indonesian art, with informative essays.
  • A Short History of Bali: Indonesia's Hindu Realm, by Robert Pringle, Allen & Unwin, 2004. A good brief history of Bali, with references and notes.