AFFANDI (Indonesian, 1907-1990)

Affandi's works have received critical acclaim for their powerful expressionistic quality, particularly outstanding in depicting the emotion and personality of his subjects. Fisherman, alongside other single figure works of the artist, is an excellent painting from the artist.

The central figure of the fisherman in the painting is a man of significant proportions; at once comfortable with, and in command of, Nature and its elements. Depicting the fisherman returning to shore after a day out at sea, with the oars of his boat easily draped over his right shoulder and a basket with his bountiful harvest of fish on his left, the fisherman is master of his trade and commander of his own destiny. His towering presence is emphasised by Affandi's very typical compositional treatment for paintings of single figures, where he frames the figure tightly within the height of his canvas, very fractionally cropped at the top and bottom edges to suggest concealed height.

The figure is situated in the vertical centre of the painting; in a heroic full-figure pose, glowing red against a heavily finished background. Employing the perspective of scale, Affandi has painted the fisherman's boats comparatively smaller and moored ashore. The vibrancy and dynamism of the painting is emphasized with the broad bold expressionistic strokes, highlighted by the rich usage of colour with the blue sea in the background; the red oar and hat of the fisherman and the bluish-green fishes in the basket.