His lust to live the artist’s life brought him to Italy early where he was strongly influenced by Renaissance drawing and met with Nieuwenkamp who had a villa near Florence. Nieuwenkamp convinced Bonnet to travel Bali.

Bonnet’s drawings and painting are always figurative and often elongated showing strong classical influence and his desire to express ‘beauty’ in his art.

With Spies he founded the Balinese artists union Pitamaha…

Often maligned as a still, colorless man, Bonnet’s dedication to the Balinese and their art has no peerthe existence of the Puri Lukisan, the only museum in Ubud which is not a tribute to some wealthy art dealer’s ego, owes its existence primarily to his tireless energy (he also donated the best pieces in the collection).

Where Spies was flamboyant, Bonnet was a nuts and bolts man who made sure the plans worked. They represented the two polarities of the Bali expat gay life style of the era.

Bonnet was forced off the island in 1957 after refusing to sell a certain painting to then President Soekarno. He returned some 15 years later as an old man, often intolerant of the new generation of expatriates who thought they knew better.

His ashes were cast in to the sea with those of his close friend, Cokorda Agung Sukawati of Ubud 1978.

Bonnet drawings are to be found at both the Neka and Agung Rai museums.