LOT 26
DULLAH
B. Indonesia, 1919 – 1996
Portrait of an Indonesian Girl, 1971
Signed and dated on lower right
Oil on canvas
89 x 69 cm
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
RM 20,000 – RM 35,000
Dullah was born in Surakarta (Solo) in central Java in 1919 and passed away in 1996. Dullah studied painting under Affandi and Sudjojono but has his own distinctive style of naturalism. Dullah was most known for his landscapes and portraits. In fact, he was the Presidential Palace painter in the 1950s and received many commissions to paint influential people. He was also one of the founders of HBS – Surakarta Cultural Community (1950). In 1956, Dullah edited a book of former President Soekarno’s Private Collection of Indonesian Art (volume I & II).
Since the early days of the independence, Dullah was very close to Soekarno, the first President of the Republic of Indonesia and was appointed by Soekarno to care for the President’s private art collection and as curator of the state painting collections. According to The Jakarta Post, Dullah was described as “a maestro of people’s painting art” by art critic Kusnadi. Another critic, Sudarmaji, described Dullah as the “king of Indonesian realism”, which was later used as the title of the painter’s biography published in 1998. Painter Sudjojono described Dullah as a “proficient, natural and honest populist painter”. Today, Dullah’s realistic artworks are the ultimate addition to any art enthusiast’s collection.