Ahmad Sadali (24 Juli 1924 – 19 September 1987) comes from a family with diversified batik and printing businesses. He was an Indonesian painter and art lecturer who is well-known for his abstract art, especially Abstract expressionism, and Cubism and Color field painting. Sadali was among the first and leading students of Ries Mulder, that represented "The Bandung School" of Indonesian art. He is considered one of the most important Indonesian modernist artists, and his works are among the highest priced Indonesian in International art markets. His signature Abstract style expresses elements of nature and spirituality in a bold yet nuanced manner.
Life
Together with his twelve siblings, Sadali, the seventh child, has never had a problem with the cost of studying. His father, Haji Muhammad Djamhari, was a prominent figure in the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization in Garut, West Java. Sadali's father owned several fruit garden and rice fields, as well as a printing businessman and he was an active batik merchant. Sadali spent his education at HIS Boedi Priyayi Garut (1938) starting from kindergarten. He then went to the Muhammadiyah madrasah MULO and continued his later education in Yogyakarta. Between 1944 and 1945, he entered the Jakarta Islamic College.
From 1948 to 1953, Sadali studied at the Faculty of Drawing Teachers at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, which is now known as FSRD, at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). There, Sadali was the first student of Ries Mulder, a Dutch painter and lecturer who helped establish the establishment of the Department of Fine Arts at ITB. After completing his studies, he was appointed as a lecturer at ITB. In 1956, he received a scholarship to study fine arts in the United States. He studied fine arts at the Department of Fine Arts, University of Iowa, and the New York Art Student League. In his academic journey, he has earned the title of professor.
Ahmad Sadali is also one of the founders of the Bandung Islamic University - UNISBA, and his name is listed in the deed of establishment from 1958.
His career started as a teaching staff at ITB, then became Secretary and Head of the Department of Fine Arts-ITB and finally became assistant to the Rector of ITB (1969-1976) with the title Professor Drs. Ahmad Sadali.
Early in his career, the cubist painting style of Ries Mulder strongly influenced Sadali, similar to other Mulder students at the ITB. This abstract style in the Bandung University surprised various parties in the world of Indonesian art. The critic Trisno Soemardjo accused this new trend of being a "Western Laboratory Servant". Later this style also became known as the style of the "Bandung School".
Sadali was married to his wife Hajjah Siti Atikah, and they have one son, Rafi Ahmad Salim. In 2014, Rafi wrote the foreword to the important Solo exhibition of his father in 2014, which was organized and held by the National Gallery of Indonesia.
Works
Ahmad Sadali is a pioneer of modern Abstract art in Indonesia. Together with other graduates of the Bandung Institute of Technology, ITB, such as A.D. Pirous and Sunaryo, he found his voice in abstraction, laying the path for generations of Indonesian artists who emphasize the intuitive power of color and gesture. Meanwhile, artists in America – including the likes of Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko – also began to break new ground in the genre, drawing attention to the very act of painting.
One of the striking characteristics of Sadali's work is the choice of geometric shapes and colors in his work. The description of Sadali's work in the latest book contains the first article entitled "Ahmad Sadali Pioneer of Indonesian Abstract Painting." This paper explains that Sadali believed life to be worship in order to seek the pleasure of Allah. These two descriptions summarize Sadali's main role in modern Abstract art in Indonesia, which he had from 1950 until his death.
In the book The New Indonesian Painting Art, An Introduction, Sanento Yuliman notes a description of Ahmad Sadali's Abstract Art: "In 1963, Ahmad Sadali abandoned geometric abstraction. The canvas shows brilliant colors that are wide and do not depict any object. In later developments, Sadali's canvases offer muted colors such as earth ochre, deep blue and black. Texture is indeed an important war. This texture appears as if it was created by various forces and processes in nature; tension and shrinkage, cracking and breaking, peeling and tearing, erosion and weathering, ageing and crushing."