This renowed painter deserves to be deemed a beautiful legend; on one can bring him back to be with us again, to reunite him with reality. And isn't Indonesia curently facing a multidimensional crisis? Art can be the legend to heal the nation's wouds, a consolation, a reflection or catharsis whereby we restore our self respect and promote humanitarian values to look into the future ; a peaceful Indonesia, artistic and inspired by love for humanity. Affandi born in Cirebon in May 1907, is identified with the East and Indonesia, apart from his personal legend, all the domestic and international awards, this unique and eccentric artistic and personal style, with simplicity and humanity toward others as his main characteristics. He is a symbol of Eastern character was rarely discussed during his life: the Elan vital in his works, his view of life, and the tenacity of his Eastern style. Therefore, this May, the centenary of Affandi's birth, it is appropriate taht we retrace the story of how the expresionist style in his grestest works is opposed to that of European expressionism. In Afandi's works, despite their boldness, directness and spontaneity, the visual impact is very different from that of Western expresionist works. He manages to voice the Eastern and Indonesian worldview that strives for satbility and balance between the individual and the universe. The European artists-Goya, Courbert and Van Gogh-who are considered the earliest exponents of expressionism, struggled with their ideas and feeling of despair, the inexpressible suffering of life, their disbelief in the humanitu of man, the extremes that we must always bear as humans mandated by God to be the leaders on his Earth, the commanders to resolve the arrogance of life, ending eventually in nihilism. An esthetic that gives rise to tragedy! Yet this strain of expresionism that came from the West, derived from anger, pain and fear of death, is not found in Affandi's paintings, which instead portay humanity and gentleness. Affandi is as defferent from those who inspired his style as heaven and earth. Even the credo of 'Art for art's sake' living for the sake of art, was no longer the starting point for his works. He once said in an interview,'I choose to be a normal person. Painting is my work, but providing for the family must come first, and we must be responsible toward them'. An autodidact, Affandi learned to paint first by serving as amodel for an Italian painter living in Bandung; in this way he learned the academic methods of paintings and the anatomical perspective, which he then mastered.

 After that, he wandered, selling tickets and painting film posters at a movie theater. During the physical revolution, between 1945 and 1947, Affandi was heavily involved in the struggle against both Dutch and Japanese colonial occupation. In his first solo exhibition, at Gedoang Poetra during the Japanese occupation, he was a member of Poetra, an organization founded by Indonesian to struggle in the cultural spere, which he initiated together with Ir.Soekarno, Drs.Mohammad Hatta, Ki Hajar Dewantara and KH Mas Mansyur. From the on, it was as if a dam had burst. Through the atelier 'Persagi' established by Sudjojono, a pioneer of modern Indonesian painting in the socialist-realist school, and Affandi, also a member of Lekra, he had an excellent career. His good fortune was complemented by his simplycity, strong will, hard work and discipline, willigness to share, and , most significantly, his unrelenting compassionate desire to help the less fortunate. For the rest of his life, Affandi continued to set milestone in the records of Indonesian visual arts, following in the footsteps of Raden Saleh Syarif Buataman from Triboyo, semarang, who took the early European Romantic Naturalist style and gave it an Indonesian face in the 19th century. Many critiques, award and honors were bestowed upon Affandi-a postage stamp, street names in Central Java (worthy of a national hero), and a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from the University os Singapore in 1974. His legendary visit to Europe to take part in Biennale art events, and the controversy over his 'sloppy, can of painting equipment' style, brought him invitations to study at Santiniketan, and he was urged to exhibit all over India. He also received an invitation from US goverment for artistic education, and lived there and exhibited at the New York Press Club. Most importantly, Affandi was among those who spurred the painting boom in Indonesia. In the early 1980s, his works regularly brought very high prices in auction, both within Indonesia and at foreign galleries such as Cristie's and Sotheby's. Since he died in 1990, the art market has been astonished to see how the prices for his works have continued to shoot up. His family, who run the Affandi Museum, warn 'Don't believe it if someone is selling an alleged Affandi fro under Rp300 million! Toward the end of his life, in an interview in Jakarta, Affandi stated simply,'What I get from painting is the satisfaction of self-expression. Whether it succeeds ir fails is up to others. But it makes me happy. A painting may be bad, or it may be great; that doesn't matter to me. I've performed my obligations as a painter, and for me that's the most important thing.