Affandi

Acquired directly from the artist

This work is in good overall condition as viewed. There is some extremely minor cracking to the pigment at areas of thick impasto, but this is consistent with the age of the work and only visible upon very close inspection. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals some very minor areas of restoration at a few areas of very thick impasto, particularly at the rooster. Examination under ultraviolet light also reveals some very tiny, pinhole sized sports of restoration at background in lower left quadrant.
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A pictorial vortex of concentrated frenzy, tension and anticipation, Man with Cockerel captures an instant just before the commencement of a battle between sparring roosters. The Balinese cockfight, or tajen, is a sacramental rite of passage that would continually beguile Affandi and provide impetus for his vast oeuvre throughout his lifetime. This ancient sport, practiced to eradicate evil spirits, is one that typically holds a social function, conjuring images of commotion, applause and competition. However, Affandi chooses to depict a private moment between a man and his cockerel, exemplifying the mutual accord between them.

As a patriotic individual active in the struggle for independence and well acquainted with the intellectuals and nationalists of his era, Affandi focused on populist themes in his paintings. He was an artist who dedicated his aesthetic to depicting the sincere Indonesian experience, sans the rose tinted glasses that had once filtered the Mooi Indie perception of his nation. A founder of the Lembaga Pelukis Rakyat (The People’s Painter’s Association), Affandi encouraged budding artists to document the circadian activities of the indigenous people.

Though the elite often viewed the Balinese cockfighting as a primitive, unprogressive sport, perhaps due to the gambling associated with it, Affandi elevates the cockfight to a lofty level by rendering it significant. While Indo-European artists depicted Bali as an unadulterated, pristine alcove, Affandi believed that the true essence of the island surfaces within the boisterous cock ring, an arena that sanctions the eruption of carnal expression. As stated by Professor Clifford Geertz in his anthropological study of Balinese cockfighting,

‘In the cockfight, man and beast, good and evil, ego and id, the creative power of aroused masculinity and the destructive power of loosened animality fuse in a bloody drama of hatred, cruelty, violence, and death.’¹

Men participating in the cockfight are taken to a feral level, compelled to face their most intimate and dichotomous emotions. This spiritual, poignant and vehement game not only generates camaraderie within communities, it also highlights the deep bonds between men and their roosters.

The disciplined man depicted in this work stands still and steady, despite the churning whirlwind surrounding him in the backdrop. Within his grasp sits his equally composed cockerel that shares his owner’s distant gaze. The manner in which he holds his cherished animal, an object of his pride, mimics that of Gallerami in the iconic Reniassance painting Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo Da Vinci. She holds her ermine with a maternal affection, keeping it securely close to her torso. The aficionado’s gesture is similarly protective. Embracing his cockerel close to his chest, he savours the moments before releasing it into the ring where it would then be forced to battle desperately for its own survival. 

Gallerami’s slender, graceful fingers are a stark contrast to the rugged, weathered hands of Affandi’s villager. The sense of pressure permeating through his rigid fingers is echoed by the vibrating yellow impastos outlining his tight grasp. Just as the lady and her pet ermine share an uncanny resemblance in their gaze and slender faces, the cockfighter and his rooster are equally overwrought, apprehensive and determined. Dependent on one another to assure their triumph and avoid the unfathomable indignity associated with defeat, the master and his animal perhaps contemplate their prospects of victory, a common goal metaphorically denoted by their unified stare.

The present lot incarnates the psychological identification of a man with his rooster, an expression of his masculinity. In fact, the cock is implanted in Indonesian etymology as an image of virility:

‘Sabung, the word for cock (and one which appears in inscriptions as early as A.D. 922), is used metaphorically to mean “hero,” “warrior,” “champion,” “man of parts,” “political candidate,” “bachelor,” “dandy,” “lady killer,” or “tough guy.”’²

For a man whose ego is anthropomorphized by his rooster, it is likely that he would spend a great deal of time grooming, feeding and training it. Affandi partially shows the man’s eyes looking downwards, but leaves the cock’s sharp eyes exposed, suggesting a transition of the ego from the man to his alter ego, his cockerel. The cockerel, clearly depicted in profile at the center of the work, is painted in colors that directly match his owner’s red sarong and yellow outlines, signifying the cohesion between them.

As an expressionist Affandi’s archetypal modus delivered his works with a heavy, tactile impasto and three-dimensional feature, which affected his use of line, form and color. The rooster’s feathers are illuminated with thick, white streaks of paint which highlights its significance. Resonating with a dark intensity, the backdrop reveals the motional, complex turbulence associated with the game. Affandi employed a concentrated palette that would invigorate his subjects in this emotionally charged painting.

This distinctive rhythm visible in Man with Cockerel enhances the scene with a tangible sensitivity so typical in his works. An iconic and recurring subject in Affandi’s oeuvre, the cockfighting convention was one that Affandi held in high regard. In an effort to shatter the colonialist lens through which depictions of Indonesia were beheld, Affandi produced an opus that now stands as a crucial tribute to Indonesian temperament during the fledgling stages of its modern saga. This painting at once reveals the sophisticated art behind the sport, the infinite depths of passion and zeal looming within every fellow citizen, and most of all, the depths of a relationship between a human being and his treasured fowl.

¹ Clifford Geertz, Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight, Daedalus, Fall 2005, pg. 62

² Refer to 1, pg. 60