Affandi

Christie's Singapore, October 1, 1995, Lot 654
Private Collection, Singapore

Sardjana Sumichan, Affandi, Vol II, Bina Lestari Budaya Foundation, Jakarta, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, 2007, p. 36, colorplate

This work is in good overall condition as viewed. There is evidence of minor wear along the edges of the work due to abrasions with the frame, but this does not affect the overall image. Under close inspection, there are signs of craquelure in some areas of thicker impasto and along the edges of the work, but this is stable and consistent with the age of the work. There are very minor areas of loss and flaking in the lower right and lower middle quadrant of the painting. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals very tiny areas of restoration at the edges of the work, the dog and in the girl's hair. However, these are only visible under ultraviolet light. Any other inconsistencies are consistent with the artist's working method. Framed.
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“[Affandi] did not come to Bali for the exotic “difference” the island is all too often expected to provide. He was looking for “situations,” some Balinese, some not, but always ones which he could endow with personal signification. Working outdoors, he looked for scenes he could endow with personal symbolic meaning(s) – to connote human suffering or express the whirling of natural forces…"¹

Renowned for his distinct painting style and his idiosyncratic subject matter, Affandi was reckoned the consummate expressionist painter in Southeast Asia living in the mid-20^th century. Entrenched in the ground-breaking aesthetic shifts that occurred globally during the World-War and Post-World-War period, Affandi founded Lembaga Pelukis Rakyat (The People’s Painters’ Association), an organization that encouraged Indonesian artists to focus on depicting populist themes and paint honest images of the human experience.

The present work was created during a critical time in Affandi’s career, once he had returned to Indonesia after having travelled extensively to India, Europe and South America. During this period, he returned to Bali, an enclave he viewed as his sanctuary, where he had previously visited on many occasions. He would then visit the island several times a year to revitalize his inspiration to paint, as he found that the Balinese vistas, the atmosphere and the openhearted nature of the people suited his creative needs.² Each visit to Bali further permeated his works with a wilder and more expressive quality.

Affandi’s persistent trips to Bali were for a strict purpose: to spontaneously capture live scenes from Balinese life in real time. As an inquisitive artist who naturally assimilated into the Balinese culture, Affandi yearned to depict a faithful image of Balinese daily life. Before immortalizing his subjects, he would examine them thoroughly in an attempt to comprehend them on a personal level. Only once he could truly understand their disposition, he would feel ready to capture their raw spirit.

Balinese Girl with Piglet, a striking painting that elucidates the authentic and unfiltered experience of a young girl, truly captures the overarching spirit of the Lembaga Pelukis Rakyat. Upon viewing this remarkable work, it is evident that Affandi painted events from reality that truly moved him. He admitted, “I too like beautiful things, but they do not necessarily provide inspiration for my work. My subjects are expressive rather than beautiful. I paint suffering – an old woman, a beggar, a black mountain... My great wish is that people learn a little from my work.” In the present lot, Affandi presents the side profile of a young girl garbed in a sarong. The child dominates the picture plane, her form stretching the length of the canvas. The girl portrayed is meek and meager, a stark contrast to the idealized Balinese women depicted in Orientalist images at the time.

It is apparent that Affandi did not philosophize too profoundly on his own paintings; he merely described what he witnessed in a straightforward, candid manner. The child’s pose is not curated. Lost in her own thoughts as she ambles to her destination, she is oblivious to her vigilant viewer. As she walks in the outdoors in the dead of night, she balances a tray containing a piglet on her head, while carrying a bowl with her hands. A dog nibbles by her feet, perhaps scrounging for some of the offerings that may have fallen from her tray. Unconcerned and somewhat jaded, she focuses solely on her journey ahead. Though the backdrop of the work appears convoluted, with images of palm trees in the distance, there appears to be no horizon line. The girl, therefore, visually suspends in mid-air. Hovering in space, she seems vulnerable and angelic. The subtle expression in eyes, coupled with her multitasking movements, convey a somewhat exhausted deportment. She indeed embodies a blatant divergence from the sprightly and vivacious maidens depicted in the works of Indo-European artists in Bali.

The image of a dog rummaging through scanty leftovers brings to mind a recollection from the artist’s former driver, Pak Jimin, who said: “Once I saw him purchase five portions of nasi campur (mixed rice) from a local warung… I was wondering why he bought it, when I saw him putting those nasi campur portions under a banyan tree; before long, all the dogs of the neighbouring area were fighting over the pieces of meat! But by then, Affandi was at his easel catching the scene before his eyes.”³ Affandi was stimulated by the actions of the dogs, which give in to their bodily desires and pandered their greed. The covetous beasts may have reminded him of the bare human being, which lurks underneath a veneer of civilization. Perhaps the foraging dog even mirrors the young girl, standing as a metaphor for the scuffle for food, the struggle for contentment, and the quotidian adversities of the poor.

The present lot, along with the other pictures from his opus, demonstrates Affandi’s revolutionary style that breaks away from romanticized depictions of Indonesia, prevalent in works of the pre-existing Mooi Indie and Pita-Maha aesthetics in Indonesia. With his quintessential painting style and poignant aesthetics, Balinese Girl With Piglet shows the artist’s passion for describing the understated yet potent nuances that make up everyday life. Inadvertently, Affandi created an oeuvre that now serves as an important testament to Indonesian disposition during its first stages of modern history.

 

¹Jean Couteau cited in Sardjana Sumichan, ed., Affandi, Volume II, Bina Lestari Budaya Foundation, Singapore Art Museum, Jakarta Singapore, 2007, p. 39

² Refer to 1, p. 33

³ Refer to 1, p. 36