Lot Essay
A contemporary of S. Sudjojono and Hendra Gunawan, Affandi shared the same profound commitment against the Mooie Indies school of artists who painted romanticised scenes and people of the Dutch East Indies and which to the people's artists as they are known, are completely divorced with the reality of real Indonesia. Described as "one of the most important interpreters of people's life and emotion" (Astri Wright, Soul, Spirit, Mountain: Preoccupations of Contemporary Indonesian Painters, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 158), Affandi's preoccupation with the common folk started at the beginning of his career. During the Japanese Occupation, Affandi spent a short period in Bali where he spent most of his time sketching soldiers and peasants. After which, the artist spent two years in India where he was totally "fascinated with the life he found all around him. The homeless, refugee camps, market-places, simple village homes, and the slums were all favourite themes in his painting." (Ibid.)
While developing a genre of subject matter e.g. fisherman, beggar and prostitute which were also depicted by Sudjojono and Hendra, Affandi developed an unique style which 'individualised' the common vision. By the 1950s, he began to develop a figurative style that involves the distortion and manipulation of shapes. He stopped using brushes and applied the oil paint directly to the canvas with his hands or directly from the tube. Affandi's painting became increasingly expressive and traces of his emotion became stronger and overwhelm the identity of his subjects. This became a consistent style till the passing of the artist in 1990.
While developing a genre of subject matter e.g. fisherman, beggar and prostitute which were also depicted by Sudjojono and Hendra, Affandi developed an unique style which 'individualised' the common vision. By the 1950s, he began to develop a figurative style that involves the distortion and manipulation of shapes. He stopped using brushes and applied the oil paint directly to the canvas with his hands or directly from the tube. Affandi's painting became increasingly expressive and traces of his emotion became stronger and overwhelm the identity of his subjects. This became a consistent style till the passing of the artist in 1990.