AFFANDI

Fishermen and Catfishes (Lot 2158) is highly revealing of Affandi's phenomenological mode of painting. As noted in At the Cockfight (Lot 2014 in Evening Sale, 26 May 2012), Affandi stayed close to the ground when he paint, preferring to lay his canvas low or even flat on the ground. Many a time, he preferred to sit or squat rather than stand. In the present lot, he viewed the gathering of men and the catfishers from a low angle, and thus captured the drama of caught and wriggling catfishes and the lower bodies of the fishermen. Affandi emphasizes the sense of movement and even chaos in the scene he observes. As a theme, Fishermen and Catfishes is rare within Affandi's oeuvre and an overall outstanding work revelatory of the artist's mode of painting.