# Kusuma Affandi artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/kusuma-affandi/
Profile generated: 2026-05-09T18:34:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1907-06-17
- Death date: 1990-05-23
- Nationality: Indonesian
- Movements: Expressionism
- Common media: oil on canvas, painting

## About Kusuma Affandi

Kusuma Affandi (1907–1990), born Baharudin Affandi Kusuma in Cirebon, West Java, is one of Indonesia's most celebrated modern painters. Largely self-taught, he began painting in 1934 and by the late 1930s was working as a portrait painter in Bandung. His career took him to Jakarta, the Netherlands, and eventually back to Indonesia, where he taught at the Jakarta academy from the mid-1950s. Affandi is known for an expressive, deeply personal style — often applying paint directly with his hands — that depicted everyday Indonesian life, self-portraits, and human figures with raw emotional intensity. His work earned international recognition during his lifetime, and his legacy is preserved at Museum Affandi in Yogyakarta, the dedicated museum on the grounds of his former home and studio. His daughter Kartika Affandi also became a noted painter.

## Common works and media

Affandi's auction and appraisal appearances are predominantly oil paintings on canvas, board, or hardboard. Recurring subjects include self-portraits, portraits of family and community figures, scenes of rural and urban Indonesian life, and expressive figure studies. His mature works are recognized for thick impasto application, often executed by squeezing paint directly from the tube and spreading it with his hands. Works range from small-scale studies to large canvases. Prints and works on paper are less commonly documented in auction records compared to his oil paintings.

## Market and appraisal context

Affandi's works appear regularly in Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art sales at major auction houses. Collectors evaluating an Affandi painting should consider the period, medium (oil on canvas versus paper or board), subject matter, and documented provenance. His characteristic impasto technique and hand-applied paint are distinctive. Works with gallery or museum exhibition history, especially those tied to Museum Affandi, tend to carry stronger provenance. Authentication should reference his documented 'AFD' signature. The substantial volume of works in auction databases suggests a mature secondary market, but condition, size, and period all affect individual appraisals.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files and institutional records with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Kusuma Affandi, identity data is grounded in the Library of Congress Name Authority File, Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, and Museum Affandi.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79080936
- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/109108
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/23420305/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500123367
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2826050
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affandi
- Museum Affandi: http://www.affandi.org