A brush and ink and wash drawing, similar to the figure of the crouching bather in the upper center of the current drawing, was offered at Sotheby's, New York, Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale, November 19, 2020, lot 197. This figure also appears in a gouache drawing by Covarrubias (sold Christie's, New York, May 22, 2012, lot 4) and an oil on canvas (sold Larsati Auctioneers, Singapore, January 12, 2012, lot 80).
The acclaimed Mexican artist Covarrubias (1904-1957) and his wife Rose were among the first westerners to immortalize Bali in art. The two first traveled to Bali on an extended honeymoon in 1930 and quickly became fascinated by Balinese life, particularly by rituals, offerings and festivals. Covarrubias's 1937 book Island of Bali is a remarkable source of information about the art, ritual life, and customs of parts of Bali he had observed during the years he lived there (on and off through the 1930s). A kemben is an Indonesian female torso wrap historically common in Java, Bali, and other parts of Indonesian archipelago.
