Image: Dullah, c. 1954. Image source: Wikimedia Commons, via Wikipedia.

Dullah (1919 – 1996)

Dullah lahir di Solo, Jawa Tengah, 19 September 1919. Ia lahir dari keluarga pembatik sehingga tidak asing dengan dunia seni lukis. Dullah belajar melukis dari S. Sudjojono dan Affandi ketika menjadi anggota Seniman Indonesia Moeda (SIM). Dullah memimpin sekelompok seniman muda untuk melukis langsung peristiwa-peristiwa selama pendudukan Yogyakarta (perang kemerdekaan) sebagai usaha pendokumentasian sejarah perjuangan bangsa. Adegan-adegan pertempuran hidup selama perang kemerdekaan Indonesia melawan Belanda membuatnya dikenal sebagai "pelukis revolusioner."

 

Pada tahun 1950 Dullah ikut mendirikan Himpunan Budaja Surakarta (HBS). Di tahun yang sama ia diangkat sebagai pelukis istana, hingga selama 10 tahun menjabatnya (sejak awal tahun 1950-an), dengan tugas khusus merawat dan merenovasi lukisan-lukisan koleksi istana Presiden Soekarno. Dullah dipercaya sebagai penyusun buku Lukisan-lukisan koleksi Ir. Dr. Sukarno, Presiden Republik Indonesia.

 

Dullah dikenal sebagai “master” lukisan potret. Namun, dia juga pernah menulis puisi. Dia juga menjadi seorang guru dan memiliki banyak siswa dalam kelompok Pajeng. Sebuah sanggar yang didirikannya pada tahun 1974 di Pajeng, Bali. Menerbitkan Buku “Karya dalam Peperangan dan Revolusi” (1982) dan mendirikan Museum Dullah di Kota Solo untuk mewadahi koleksi karya-karyanya dan seniman Indonesia lainnya. Dia meninggal di Yogyakarta, pada tanggal 1 Januari 1996.

Dullah was born in Solo, Central Java, on September 19, 1919. He was born into a batik-making family, so he was familiar with the world of painting. Dullah learned to paint from S. Sudjojono and Affandi when he was a member of the Indonesian Artists Moeda (SIM). Dullah led a group of young artists to paint scenes of events during the Yogyakarta occupation (the independence war) as an effort to document the history of the nation's struggle. The depiction of live combat scenes during the Indonesian War of Independence against the Dutch made him known as the "revolutionary painter."

 

In 1950, Dullah co-founded the Surakarta Cultural Association (HBS). In the same year, he was appointed as a palace painter, a position he held for 10 years (from the early 1950s), with the special task of caring for and renovating paintings from the collection of President Sukarno's palace. Dullah was entrusted with compiling the book Paintings from the Collection of Ir. Dr. Sukarno, the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

 

Dullah is known as a “master” portrait painter. However, he also wrote poetry. He was also a teacher and had many students within the Pajeng group, a studio he established in 1974 in Pajeng, Bali. He published the book Works in War and Revolution (1982) and founded the Dullah Museum in Solo City to house his collection of works and those of other Indonesian artists. He passed away in Yogyakarta on January 1, 1996.

Source: IVAA Online Archive