Affandi

Affandi (1907 – May 23, 1990) was born in Cirebon, West Java, as the son of R. Koesoema, who was a surveyor at a local sugar factory. Affandi finished his upper secondary school in Jakarta, but he forsook his study for the desire to become an artist. Affandi taught himself how to paint since 1934. In the 1950s, Affandi began to create expressionistic paintings. Carrying the First Grandchild (1953) was the piece that marked his newfound style: “sq... more

Affandi (1907 – May 23, 1990) was born in Cirebon, West Java, as the son of R. Koesoema, who was a surveyor at a local sugar factory. Affandi finished his upper secondary school in Jakarta, but he forsook his study for the desire to become an artist. Affandi taught himself how to paint since 1934. In the 1950s, Affandi began to create expressionistic paintings. Carrying the First Grandchild (1953) was the piece that marked his newfound style: “squeezing the tube.” Affandi paints by directly squeezing the paint out of its tube. He came across this technique by accident, when he intended to draw a line one day. As he lost his patience when he sought for the missing pencil, he applied the paint directly from its tube. The resulting effect, as he found out, was that the painting object appeared more alive. He also felt more freedom to express his feelings when he used his own hands, instead of a paint brush. In certain respects, he has acknowledged similarities with Vincent van Gogh. As a... less