Affandi

Acquired directly from the artist

Thence by the descent to the present owner

Private Collection, USA

The work is in good condition overall. There is light wear and handling around the edges of the painting and upon close observation, there is evidence of a slight undulation of the canvas predominantly on the top left corner and bottom register. Paint layers and impastos are healthy. Under ultraviolet light inspection shows no sign of restoration. Framed.
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As a leeway to self-documentation, Affandi’s self-portraits had allowed him to record his own physical and psychological changes. With a collection of self-portraits akin to the Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, these paintings were not images of vanity and self-obsession, but windows to his own spiritual progression. Despite the artist’s frequent production of self-portraitures, each painting was one of a kind since they were embodiments of that moment in Affandi’s life. Instead of painting a constructed reality, he painted only the truth. The artist also did not produce artworks to entertain per se, but rather to reflect upon his own individual existence. Hence rather than pursuing a facial resemblance, these expressive portraits were emotional representations that reflected his state of mind.

Canonized as one of the most significant artists in 20^th Century Indonesian art, Affandi was especially known for his animated style of paintings. Throughout his career Affandi had established a unique style of paint application – by squeezing the material directly from the tube and smear it off with his hands directly onto the canvas. This method provided him with maximum freedom in manipulating and controlling the paint strokes, as well as to create his desired pictorial effects. Hailed as the “Southeast Asian Vincent van Gogh”, Affandi’s artworks echoed the prolific Dutch painter with similar brushstrokes and daring colours. As a pioneer of Indonesian modern art, Affandi’s will to push boundaries and break new grounds also drew similarities to the French post-Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne.

Produced in 1976, the present painting was painted in a relatively late stage of Affandi’s life. It was executed with the artist’s signature artistic vocabularies – the directly-applied paint, the expressive lines, and the overlapping of colours all resonated with the artist’s visual components. Under the vibrant colours, dynamic lines, and textured paint, one may still discern the facial features of Affandi. Yet, this particular self-portrait from the artist’s oeuvre has a particular melancholic touch to it. With a pipe between his lips, Affandi stares straight at the audiences, engaging with them in a pensive manner. The colour palette used by Affandi in this piece is also comparatively darker, for he chose pigments with a somber undertone. In this self-portrait, the artist has also inserted a sun, a pair of hands and feet on the right hand side in the painting. Symbolic for Affandi, the sun was one of his favourite motifs throughout his lifetime. He regarded the sun as the indispensable source of the natural life forces, while hands and feet were the most important part of the body in regards to movement. Hence the insertion of this particular motif predicates his contemplation on the existence of nature and the vicissitude of life, and hinted at his belief as a humanist.

As a “naturalist”, Affandi was a firm believer in the equilibrium between men and nature, especially the power of nature where his beliefs corresponded to the Indonesian traditional concept of dynamism. The intangible force of nature had influenced his attention to expressions and emotions of human beings, including the ethereal aspects of life. Influenced by Western art, Affandi’s self-portraits also valued the representation of the inner spirit. Possibly inspired by expressionist Edvard Munch, Affandi as a naturalist also adopted the visual language of depicting the psychological journey and existence of man. Thus, instead of focusing on anatomical portrayals of himself, Affandi took a turn in his stylistic development and shifted to a more expressionistic style of creating art. The artist chose to express himself using a universal language which marked his appeal to an international audience.

Affandi’s collection of self-portraits was a record of his psychological journey and the changes in the various stages of his life. During the process of painting himself, the artist was simultaneously giving himself a moment to reflect and meditate. The self-portraits ultimately took form of an inner dialogue and also the most penetrating form of self-analysis. Affandi further insisted on producing a copious amount of self-portraits. He was fearless in confronting his inner self and exposing his vulnerabilities to the outside world. The self-portraits also bear witnesses to the artist’s stylistic developments, and the encapsulating changes that occurred in different parts of his life.

The self-portraits executed in the earliest stage of Affandi’s artistic career revealed his honed anatomical and figural foundation, where he was still depicting himself in a traditional painterly manner. As time progressed though, Affandi’s self-portraits gravitated more and more towards the expressionistic style, which provided a revealing look into the artist’s own spiritual development. By painting an ample amount of self-portraits, Affandi left behind a legacy as enigmatic as Rembrandt and van Gogh. To Affandi, the paintings were not merely pictures of who he desired to be, but rather the paintings were depictions of his real self. . As Affandi once said, “When I paint, I always want to become one with the object I paint. I lose myself, and then there is a feeling as if I’m going to fight against something.”¹

¹ Jim Supangkat, Affandi Volume I, Bina Lestari Budaya Foundation Jakarta and Singapore Art Museum, 2007, P.40