Trosper Continues to Teach Through Gift of Balinese Folk Art

Emory Trosper

By Pamela Oldham
Special to FYI Online

Because former UMUC Professor Emory Trosper spent his life teaching others, it's not surprising that his gift to the University is as richly educational as it is pleasing to the eye.

Last year, Trosper generously donated more than 20 pieces of 20th-century Balinese folk art to the University, a sampling of the many works he had collected throughout the years he spent as a professor with UMUC–Asia. Trosper is now retired and living in Japan, but his collection will continue to teach others about culture, the arts, and the value of community and cooperation.

Untitled, artist unknown; oil, 13 3/8" x 28"

"Trosper collected these pieces as a typical American patron of Asian arts," said Marilyn Maupin Hart, UMUC director of Special Programs, who serves as the collection's curator. "The pieces are incredibly beautiful and unique."

Hart says the collection is quite rare and valuable now, but as she delved into the story behind these works, she became enchanted by the history, culture, and artists of Bali.

Perhaps that was Trosper's plan.

Imagine a society in which every person—regardless of age, social class, or educational status—possesses extensive artistic knowledge that includes an understanding of virtually every facet of the arts, from music and dance to theatre, sculpture, and painting. Think of what it would be like to live in a region where artistry in all forms flowed effortlessly and gleefully from young children as well as adults. That place was Bali.

Largely due to a well-organized community system and fertile agricultural environment, the people of Bali have always been well-fed, sheltered, and clothed. For centuries, this circumstance allowed them the freedom to pursue leisure-time activities that many other societies can ill afford.

However, the Balinese didn't create art for financial gain or personal prominence. Instead, they channeled their creative energy into developing and exploring their own potential and that of their community, to please gods, appease devils, and honor their ancestors. Unlike individualist Western artists, the Balinese viewed art as a communal venture. They often worked together to complete projects, and some early instructors actually completed portions of paintings begun by their students.

Untitled, by K. Sudana Ubud; oil, 19 3/8" x 25 3/8"

Most of the early 20th-century Balinese artists didn't even sign their works, and Trosper's collection reflects this practice. Over half of the Balinese collection he donated to the University is unsigned. Moreover, none are titled. Creating titles that defined the paintings and giving credit to an artist or group of artists, particularly before the 1920s, was considered unseemly and unnecessary in a culture in which all its members were artists.

"The idea of not identifying one's own art is so foreign to us," said Hart. "But this was—and to some extent still is—a society that viewed the arts, and those who created art, differently than any other culture. In Bali, everyone was an artist."

In keeping with the idea that arts and education should be accessible to everyone, Trosper's Balinese folk art collection is currently on exhibit at UMUC's Adelphi headquarters, in and nearby a first floor dining room—a place where it can be easily viewed and enjoyed by all. The works are truly beautiful. But this gift carries with it a less obvious, yet longer lasting and more significant legacy: Through his generous donation, Trosper continues to teach.