INDONESIA AND ANTIQUE: 2008

A Special Tribute To Affandi (1907 – 1990)
Affandi: A Painter of Genius
In conjunction with 100 Years of Affandi
(08 October 2007) This October, Singapore Art Museum is proud to partner Credit Suisse to launch “Affandi: A Painter of Genius”, as the inaugural exhibition of the ‘Innovation in Art’ series of programmes presented by Credit Suisse. Special Guest Ibu Kartika, an important artist in her own right, and Affandi’s eldest daughter, together with Singapore Art Museum director, Mr Kwok Kian Chow, and Credit Suisse’s Managing Director and Head of Private Banking, Southeast Asia and Australasia, Dr François Monnet, will be present at the launch of the exhibition opening on 26 October 2007, 7pm.
On January 1952, the TIME magazine article proclaimed Affandi as a “painter of genius” despite “never taken a formal art lesson in his life” to audiences in Europe and America who have never heard of this artist. The writer who proclaimed Affandi as “a painter of genius” was non other than John Berger, a radical proponent of the social history of art, and influential art critic who wrote for the New Statesman.
Born in 1907, Affandi was a transnational artist who had travelled to countries such as India, America, England, Belgium, France, Italy and Sweden. In 1953, Affandi was the first Indonesian artist invited to participate at the Second Sao Paolo Biennial, the second oldest Biennial after the Venice Biennial. Subsequently, Affandi participated at the 1954 Venice Biennial to great acclaim by critics such as Carlo Barbieri and Alexander Eliot, the head critic for Time magazine. Through such affirmative reviews, we can conclude that Affandi was received positively and held in high regard by art worlds outside Indonesia.
“The face of my father is still giving me the spirit to live,” said Ibu Kartika, who has been painting a series of 100 portraits of him. “I first learnt to paint as a child, watching him and working with him. I began in 1957 with a brush, but this separation from the canvas by a tool didn’t suit me, and I soon gave it up and worked straight from the tube and with my hands.”
To commemorate the centennial birth year of Affandi (1907-1990), Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is proud to organise a tribute exhibition of the late master painter to celebrate the prolific career of this renowned Indonesian artist.
This exhibition showcases 20 of Affandi’s paintings that offers a broad representation of Affandi’s artistic practice. Many of these artworks have never been shown, especially in Singapore. Prices for Southeast Asian modern and contemporary artworks have increased rapidly over recent years. At September’s Sotheby’s auction, Affandi’s Ayam Putih was expected to fetch up to $180, 000, it went for $384, 000. This year, Sotheby’s achieved a new record level for their modern and contemporary Southeast Asian paintings.
Says Mr Kwok Kian Chow, “Affandi is a towering figure in the history of modern art in Indonesia. His art can be described as an emotional expression of his feelings towards humanity based on his own observations when Indonesia was under colonial rule and his own travels abroad. The lives and plight of the common people is a recurring theme in his paintings, focusing on their simplicity and strength of will to overcome and break out of poverty.”
Says Mr Kwok, “The Singapore Art Museum has presented a series of solo exhibitions on Singapore and Southeast Asian artists such as Chen Wen Hsi and Widayat. Affandi: A Painter of Genius continues the Museum’s research on Southeast Asian art by working with collectors and scholars in this region. In doing so, the Singapore Art Museum provides a conduit for curators, artists and collectors to further scholarship on Southeast Asian art. In this regard, we are happy to partner Credit Suisse in presenting Affandi: A Painter of Genius as the first of the ‘Innovation in Art’ series of programmes that will be presented at the Singapore Art Museum over the next three years.”

Affandi’s biography
1907 Boerhanoedin Affandi Koesoema was born in Jatitujuh, Indramayu (then administratively a part of Cirebon), West Java, in 1907. The exact date and month of his birth are however not known.
1929 Several days before the final exam at the AMS Senior High School, Affandi quit. To support himself, Affandi accepted an offer to teach writing and reading in Roman alphabet letters at an afternoon Islamic school.
1933 Affandi married Maryati, born 1916 in Bogor, West Java.
1934 The birth of their daughter, Kartika, who later became a painter too. From Jakarta, the young family moved to live in Cirebon for a short while.
1935 With Barli, Hendra, Soedarso, and Wahdi, Affandi founded, and led a study group to be known later as Kelompok Lima (The Group of Five).
1939 Affandi and family set off to Bali together with painter Barli Kartasamita.
1942 The Second World War broke out. Affandi went back to Java and continue painting. It was this year that he began his practice of applying paint directly from the tube onto the canvas, though he still used the paintbrush.
1943 Soekarno invited Affandi to Jakarta to join the Cultural Section of Poetra (Poesat Tenaga Rakyat). In the Cultural Section of the Poetra Organization, Affandi was a program executor while S. Sudjojono held the position of highest responsibility, directly linked to Soekarno.
1947 Together with Hendra Gunawan, Affandi founded an organization called Pelukis Rakyat (People’s Painters), which provided learning opportunities for the young generation, hungry for painting education and practice. People’s Painters became the most active group through 1957.
1949 -1951 With his wife and daughter Kartika leaving for India with sponsorship from the Indian government to study and travel to various places in the country.
1956 A lecturer with the ASRI Art Academy, Yogyakarta.
1958 Married his second wife Rubiyem
1960 Returned from the U.S.A. to reside in Yogyakarta.
1962 Affandi became an Honorary Professor of Painting at the Ohio State University in Colombus, Ohio.
1964 Won an award at the Venice Biennial.
1965 Returned to Yogyakarta and established the Affandi Museum.
1966 Was invited to Brazil to exhibit at the museum de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro and in Sao Paulo on the theme “Affandi: Exposicao Retrospectiva 1940-1966”.
1969 Receivied Arts Award and Gold Medal from the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia.
Elected Lifelong Honorary Member of the Art Academy of Jakarta
Appointed Chairperson for Indonesia —for a three-year term— of IAPA (International Association for Plastic Art, an international organization under UNESCO).
1970 Toured Asian countries and took part in Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan, to paint.
Lived in Rome for two years.
1973 Appointed by the government to represent Indonesia in a Biennial Exhibition in Sydney, Australia.
Official opening of the Affandi Museum.
1974 Received an Honorary Doctorate in the arts from University of Singapore for his contributions to the development and appreciation of art in Indonesia and surrounding areas. In celebration of this award, he held a solo exhibition at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Art Center in Jakarta to present his works since 1936.
1975 Represented Indonesia in the first touring exhibition of Asian Exhibition of Fine Art in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand.
1977 Awarded the “Prix International Dag Hammarskjöld” au Merite Artistique; a memorial book of over 189 pages was published in four languages, English, Dutch, French and Indonesian.
Elected member of the Human Rights Academy of the Central Committee of Diplomatic Academy of Peace PAX MUNDI in Castelo San Marzano, Florence, Italia, and awarded the title of Grand Maestro.
1978 Decorated with the Bintang Maha Jasa Utama award by the President of the Republic of Indonesia in recognition of his great contributions to the Republic of Indonesia.
In celebrating Affandi’s 70th birthday, the Jakarta Arts Council published Affandi 70 Tahun by Ajip Rosidi, Zaini, and Sudarmadji.
1979 Exhibition of his works and those by Kartika, his daughter in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
1980 Took part in the Asian Artists Exhibition Part II Festival: the Contemporary Asian Art Show, 1980, at the Fukuoka Art Museum.
1981 Affandi founded the Affandi Foundation.
1982 PPFN made a motion picture based on the life story of Affandi, “Hungry to Paint”, in cooperation with NOS Television (Dutch), directed by Yazir Marzuki.
1983 Solo exhibition at the French-Indonesian Institute in Sagan, Yogyakarta; the screening of “Hungry to Paint.”
1984 Represented Indonesia with a solo exhibition in Houston, Texas, as part of the Indonesian Art and Handicraft Festival.
The last great solo exhibition in Indonesia, held at Galeri Baru, Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center, Jakarta, entitled Affandi’s Big Exhibition presented 82 of his works.
1987 To celebrate his 80th birthday, a retrospective exhibition of his 1937-1977 works was held at Wisma Seni Nasional, Jakarta from February 23rd through March 16, presenting 120 of his works.
Affandi Exhibition at Bank Duta Auditorium, Kebon Sirih, Jakarta and the book launching of Affandi, containing reproductions of 155 of his paintings from the period 1936-1987.
1990 Affandi passed away in Yogyakarta on May 23rd, 1990, at 15.30, local time. Two wives, four children, nine grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren released him in peace. An exhibition to commemorate Affandi opened at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C., USA.
Affandi
Self-Portrait
SAM Collection
Self Portrait exemplifies Affandi’s approach to his artistic practice and philosophy. By using his hands instead of paint brushes to manipulate the oil paints directly onto the canvas, he injects the spontaneity of his human spirit into his own self-portrait in an emotional expressionistic style. For Affandi, he felt that the elimination of the painting brush in favour of his hands better conveys the complexity and depth of humanity. His use of strong colours like red, yellow and green in bold and expressive strokes confronts the viewer and asserts the individuality of Affandi as a modern Indonesian artist.

About Singapore Art Museum
Opened in January 1996, the mission of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is to preserve and present the art histories and contemporary art practices of Singapore and the Southeast Asian region. To date, SAM has amassed the world’s largest public collection of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian artworks with a growing component in international contemporary art. The museum has presented shows covering both local and international art practices, traditional and cutting edge art expressions. Through strategic alliances with international arts and cultural institutions, SAM has been facilitating visual arts education, exchange, research and development within the region and internationally. Through forging collaborative partnerships and staging innovative programmes to engage different audiences, SAM aims to contribute to an enlarged role in the regional visual arts community and Asian art museology, as well as facilitating developments in art as well as the art sector in Singapore.

Images from The Centennial of Affandi in 2007 – Official Ceremony in Jogjakarta – 19 – 21 May 2007.
100 Masks of Affandi – parade to mark the opening of ‘Jalan Affandi’ (i.e. Affandi Street – dedicated in memory of Affandi)
Short skit performed by local arts group in Jogjakarta, as a tribute to Affandi, in memory of Affandi as a humanist and master painter
Street Parade along Jalan Affandi

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