Affandi: A Painter of Genius @ SAM
19 Oct – 18 Nov 2007
Singapore Art Museum (SAM)
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore

“Painting is a gift, said Affandi (1907 – 1990)”

Affandi: A Painter of Genius @ SAM

Singapore Art Museum (SAM) 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, officially opened the exhibition on 26 October 2007.

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 none 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 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 with 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.”

For more information, visit www.singart.com

SAM Opening Hours: 10am to 7pm, with extended hours from Mon - Fri
& FREE Admission on Fridays from 6pm to 9pm

Edited by Ai San Yip. Affandi Self-Portrait Painting Courtesy of Singapore Art Museum. All Rights reserved.