Museum Puri Lukisan is the oldest art museum in Bali, founded in 1956 by the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet and the Ubud prince Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati to preserve traditional Balinese painting and woodcarving. The collection spans several garden pavilions and covers the main periods and styles of Balinese visual art, from classical narrative painting through the influence of Western artists in the 1930s to more recent work.
The garden setting — waterlilies, stone carvings, shaded pathways between the pavilions — is as much the point as the art inside. It is one of the most pleasant spaces in Ubud, quiet even when the main road outside is busy. The museum gives useful context for the paintings and craft objects sold throughout the town, and for understanding how Balinese art developed in conversation with foreign artists who settled here.