Affandi

Acquired directly from the artist in 1952
Thence by descent to the Present Owner
Private Collection, Switzerland
Sotheby's Hong Kong, October 6 2014, Lot 390

The work is in good condition overall, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. There is minor wear and handling along the margins of the painting, but paint-layers and impastos are healthy and intact. Upon close observation, there is evidence of gentle craquelures predominantly on the lighter paints and thicker impastos (ie. the sky and white paints). Examination under ultraviolet light shows minor touch-ups sprinkled on the white paints, along the top, bottom and left borders, and repairing of the canvas on the bottom right corner (underneath the signature). However, this is not visible with the naked eyes. Framed.
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Hailed as the preeminent Indonesian painter of the modern era, Affandi was a passionate man of an untamed talent for capturing the splendour of his environment with verisimilitude. While the artist called himself a “realist” as he sought to capture the world in its truest forms, his works are patently expressionistic and speak to his deep ceded love for nature. Painted only a few years after his first trip to India, Fishing boat on Elliott’s beach, Madras is a seminal work that ushers in Affandi’s idiosyncratic style—one that coined him an essential voice in Southeast Asian art history.

While seascapes have always captured the imagination of artists, the seashore holds sentimental value for Affandi who had grown up in a coastal town in Java. The lifestyle of fishermen, constantly subjected to the unpredictable moods of the ocean, became a prominent motif in his oeuvre. In Fishing boat on Elliott’s beach, Madras, waves crash violently against a receding shoreline while pulling a yellow fishing boat deeper into its grips.

Upon first glance, the depicted beach shore is not pinned to a specific destination but unfurls as a whirlpool of energy. Unlike the traditionally decorative gondolas that frequent Affandi’s Bali beach paintings, this simple boat lies precariously at the edge of the coast as black crows perch in the foreground. Its lean structure is dwarfed by the tumultuous masses of white and blueish impastos, curling in a synergy of chaos. Affandi’s aggressive yet buoyant lines communicate vicious movements, which are a result of the artist’s spontaneous practice of spreading paint directly onto the canvas with his fingers.

Writhing with life, Affandi’s painting engages its viewers with the sheer clarity of its sensations. His chosen palette mixes a sandy ochre, deep ultramarine and hints of greenish cerulean, creating depth and accentuating contrasts throughout the work. In the horizon, blackened overcast clouds hover over the ocean, signalling towards the unknown and the infinite.

Completed in the same year as Affandi’s first participation in a major biennale in Brazil, the present lot demonstrates the artist’s assurance in distilling what he saw with an unadulterated command of his feelings. During this period, the artist developed a habit of writing out his thoughts as he travelled throughout Asia, anticipating the surge of emotion that so tangibly inspired his instinctive painting. This landscape painting reveals that the passion in each of Affandi's rhythmic strokes originates in a humble philosophy: nature's remarkable forces affect us in ways we might not fully comprehend. Fishing boat on Elliott’s beach, Madras is an idyllic realization of the seas interconnectedness and of the universality of nature.