Anak Agung Gde Sobrat (1912–1992) was the son of an
aristocratic family from the town of Padangtegal in Ubud, Bali, and was one of the first two artists in Padangtegal to
meet Walter Spies at the end of the 1920s. Spies was a German artist who
together with Rudolf Bonnet was thought to be the agent of change for the
modernisation of Balinese art. In
the early 1930s, Bonnet considered him to be the most talented Balinese artist
of the period for his drawing skill, colour composition and his versatility.
Sobrat learned western style painting from both Spies and Bonnet. Sobrat was highly influenced by - some say totally imitate - Bonnet’s style in terms of colours, composition, and human drawing technique.
This is highly visible in his paintings with themes of marketplace and dances. It is from Bonnet that he learned portraiture.
He painted a lot of market scenes in a wholly naturalistic style. His painting is still being sold in galleries around the world.
