Mochtar Apin

Mochtar Apin (1923-1994)
Reclining nude, 1966
Oil on Canvas
45 X 73 cm

Provenance:
US

This evocative work, signed and dated 1966 by Mochtar Apin, represents a pivotal moment in the trajectory of Indonesian modernism. Emerging from the formative years of the Bandung School, Apin was a central figure in the Gelanggang movement. 

A Master of the Bandung School

By 1966, Mochtar Apin had returned to Indonesia after nearly a decade of rigorous study and practice in Europe, including stints at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Kunstakademie in Berlin. This work bears the sophisticated fruit of that continental exposure. Unlike the nationalist-realist tendencies of the Yogyakarta school, Apin—alongside peers like Ahmad Sadali and Srihadi Soedarsono—embraced a formalist approach that prioritized structure, color theory, and the synthesis of Western Cubist and Fauvist influences.