Affandi and Family

Indonesia’s most famous artist, Affandi, was not alone in his world of art. He is a grand patriarch of a family of artists. Affandi encouraged his wife Maryati and daughter Kartika to paint, and other family members have also become artists.

Since she was a teenager, Kartika went along with her father, whenever he allowed her to come along when he was going to paint. She quickly absorbed her father’s technique, and adopted it as her own. Although until this day, Kartika Affandi seeems to continue to be under the shadow of her infamous father, she is actually a painter in her own right. To Kartika, painting is part of her daily life, and to her, there is not a day that goes by without painting.

Kartika’s first husband, Sapto Hoedoyo, was also an accomplished painter who belonged to another prominent family of artists.

Having lived with Affandi for decades, painting seems to come naturally for Maryati. During their stay in Europe in the 1970s, Maryati accompanied Affandi going around to find interesting subjects to paint. Sometimes, when she considered the subject that Affandi painted was also of interest to her, she would paint it as well, in her own unique naive style. While Affandi’s depiction of the Eiffel Tower is well-known, Maryati’s lesser known version is actually no less interesting.

The following lots (lots #061 to 091) include the works of Affandi, Maryati Kartika, Kartika Affandi, Sapto Hoedoyo, and some other artworks related to Bali from the collection of an Affandi family member.

While visiting his grand-daughter Helfi and her husband Urbain Dirix, who lived in Belgium in the mid-1970s, Affandi became interested in the art of printmaking.

In 1977, he joined a printmaking workshop at the Frans Masereel Center for Graphix in the small village of Kasterlee in Belgium. While working on various printmaking techniques, including etching and lithography, Affandi also worked on lithography.

Affandi and Grand-daughter, is one of the pieces created at the Masereel Center. The lot below is the final product, enhanced with pastels.

The Indonesian maestro Affandi passed away in 1990. Despite his old age, and weakening physical condition, he was eager to always create art. He attempted to produce a self portrait as late as 1989.

A certificate from Affandi Art Gallery signed by Helfi Dirix, grand-daughter of Affandi and Maryati, daughter of Kartika and Sapto Hoedoyo, accompanies the artworks created by the Affandi family members.