Hasan Djaafar

Hasan Djaafar (1919–1995) was an Indonesian painter based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He is known for his Impressionist and Expressionist oil paintings which typically depict the people, architecture, landscapes, and daily life activities of his homeland. His style synthesized modernist European oil techniques and expressionist stylization with traditional Indonesian subject matter.

Over his forty-year career, he frequently exhibited internationally at the invitation of government officials from nations such as the United States, the Netherlands, West Germany, Brazil, Singapore, and Japan.

Early Life

Hasan Djaafar was born in Koto Gadang, West Sumatra. His artistic abilities were identified during childhood and his initial art instruction came from Wakidi, one of the earliest Indonesian painters to adopt oil painting techniques. Though he initially worked as a clerk in a print shop, Djaafar traveled to Paris in 1949 where he met Salim and a circle of international artists experimenting with abstract art. This trip ultimately influenced his decision to become a full-time painter.

In 1959, Djaafar displayed about 100 paintings at Singapore Polytechnic during a solo exhibition put on by the Singapore Art Society. The opening of this solo exhibit was attended by Singapore's Minister for Culture S. Rajaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye, and Indonesian Consul-General Brigadier-General G.P.H. Djatikoesoemo. Two exhibition catalogs from this Singapore show are kept in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Singapore. During this trip, he met Basuki Abdullah who was living in Singapore at the time. He stayed in the Netherlands for three months. In August 1971, he put on an exhibit at the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague where he displayed 95 paintings, and then put on a second exhibit in Hamburg where he displayed 40 paintings and 50 drawings.

His favorite international trip, according to his interview with Nusantara Museum, was to Japan in 1979. He and his wife traveled through Japan for forty days. He put on a successful exhibit in Tokyo, including the sale of ten paintings to one collector. The museum published a book to accompany the exhibit, entitled, "Hasan Djaafar: Schilder uit Sumatera, Indonesië," which was written by Anne Kloosterboer and includes a foreword by museum director Daniëlle Lokin. . Hasan Djaafar's legacy as a painter is contextualized by the immense political change that Indonesia experienced as it gained independence from Dutch colonization after the four-year Indonesian War of Independence and began to participate in the international community.