Affandi (1907-1990)

The Cab from Yogyakarta, 1962

Signed monogram of artist, 62

Size.62x84cm

Provenance: from the collection of a prominent former European diplomat, painted by the artist in the...

Affandi (1907-1990)

The Cab from Yogyakarta, 1962

Signed monogram of artist, 62

Size.62x84cm

Provenance: from the collection of a prominent former European diplomat, painted by the artist in the presence of the collector and gifted accordingly.

Exhibition: Indonesian Paintings, The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw, 2003.

Note

Affandi is revered as the undisputed "Father of Indonesian Modern Painting" and a towering figure in global Expressionism, having achieved international acclaim through his participation in prestigious events like the Venice Biennale and the São Paulo Biennale.

His artistic legacy is defined by his revolutionary plototan technique, where he bypassed the traditional brush to squeeze oil paint directly from the tube onto the canvas, molding the pigments with his bare fingers and palms to create thick, swirling impasto lines that vibrate with intense kinetic energy and raw, untamed emotion. This gestural approach was more than a stylistic choice; it was a deeply personal philosophy of immediate expression, ensuring that his internal spirit was transferred to the surface without the interference of intellectual constraint. His subject matter was resolutely grounded in the human condition, shifting away from the idealized tropical landscapes of his contemporaries to focus on the grit and soul of reality.

He dedicated his life to documenting the lives of common people—street vendors, laborers, and the marginalized—with profound empathy, while his relentless series of self-portraits serve as a haunting, unflinching mirror of his own aging process and inner turmoil. By capturing the beauty in the unpolished and the dignity in suffering, Affandi transformed the mundane into the monumental, establishing a visual language that remains a cornerstone of Indonesian identity and a universal testament to the power of the soul in art.

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