One of Indonesia’s most celebrated painters, Affandi was a self-taught artist who began painting in the 1930s. He was active in a guerilla movement as well as with artists’ sanggars (artist-run community spaces and studios) during the Indonesian revolutionary period (1945–1950) in Yogyakarta, Central Java. Affandi produced many self- portraits in different media, including ink, oil, and clay. Self-Portrait (1975) was one of the works presented in his solo exhibition in Singapore in 1975, held when Affandi was conferred an honorary doctorate from the University of Singapore. A photograph from the event shows Affandi creating this work on-site in front of an audience. Affandi donated two paintings, including this one, to the National Museum Art Gallery in Singapore after its establishment in 1976, and both were subsequently incorporated into the present National Gallery Singapore’s collection. The painting shows Affandi’s mature style: winding threads of bold yellow, red, and green form his facial features, and areas of ochre and green painted using his palm or fingers resemble a brushed wash.
—Anissa Rahadiningtyas
