Dullah's Biography

Dullah's Biography

Painter Dullah was born in Solo, Central Java, September 17, 1919, he was known as a realist painter . The style of his paintings is realistic. Having a passion for portrait painting (faces) and compositions that show a lot of people (groups). Admittedly, Dullah learned to paint from two of his teachers who were both well-known painters, namely S. Sudjojono and Affandi. Even so, the style of his paintings never had anything in common with the two teachers.    

 

He had been known as a palace painter for 10 years since the early 1950s, with the task of restoring paintings (repairing damaged paintings) and being part of the preparation of President Soekarno's collection of paintings. Dullah is also known as a revolutionary painter, because in his many works he presents paintings with the themes of struggle during the period of maintaining independence.

During the independence war II, when Yogyakarta was occupied by the Dutch army on 19 December 1949 to 29 June 1950, Dullah led his 17-year-old pupils to paint events directly during the occupation of Yogyakarta as an effort to document the history of the nation's struggle. The paintings produced when it was reviewed in newspapers, even by Affandi considered as the only work in the world.

  

Dullah is a realist painter who rarely exhibits. But his exhibition with his children at the Gedung Agung (Yogya Presidential Palace) in 1978, attracted tens of thousands of people. Although the exhibition was extended for one day, the gate of the North Building of the Great had also broken. The exhibition continued on December 20, 1979 until January 2, 1980, at Aldiron Plaza, Jakarta. Many people are disappointed because he did not sell his paintings.

For Dullah, painting is a medium for communicating with the public. Dullah is one of the founders of the Surakarta Cultural Association (HBS). Then the establishment of a studio in Pejeng, Bali. At each exhibition both inside and outside the country, the work of the students is included.

 

He also wrote poems, some of his poems were published in Indonesian literary anthologies compiled by HB Jassin. It was translated into English and published in a collection in Pakistan. A poem entitled Anak Anak Rakyat, written in 1943 and published in Gema Tanah Air, may have hinted at his fondness for the theme of struggle in his paintings. Dullah founded a private museum in Solo in the 70s, and until now the museum is still representative and managed by the Municipality of Surakarta.

Many of his paintings are collections of important government officials, art collectors both at home and abroad, community leaders and prominent people, including the first President of Indonesia Soekarno, the first Vice President of Republic of Indonesia Muhammad Hatta, Adam Malik, former President of the United States Eisenhower, former United States Vice President Walter Mondale, former Prime Minister of Australia Rudolf Menzies and the museum of painting in the Czech Republic.