Heno Airlangga, Portrait of Popo Iskandar. Image source: National Gallery of Indonesia.

Popo Iskandar (1927 – 2000)

Popo Iskandar adalah pelukis, penulis esai, kritikus sastra Sunda serta dosen seni rupa IKIP Bandung. Lahir di Garut pada 17 Desember 1927 dan meninggal pada 29 Januari 2000 pada umur 72 Tahun. Bakatnya dalam seni lukis diasah oleh Hendra Gunawan dan Barli Samitawinata. Serya gurunya, Ries Mulder, orang Belanda yang mengajar di Jurusan Seni Rupa ITB  dan cenderung berkiblat pada mazhab kubisme dan abstrak. Tetapi pengaruh realisme Hendra Gunawan pun tetap kuat. Dalam perkembangan selanjutnya, Popo menemukan gaya sendiri. Kegemarannya melukis kucing, menyebabkan ia sering diberi julukan "pelukis kucing". Sang Pelukis Maestro ini terkenal dengan ciri khas Lukisan bertema kucing, dilukis dalam gaya ekspresionis bernuansa minimalis, dengan tehnik cat tebal dan bertekstur. 

 

Popo sebenarnya ia tidak hanya melukis kucing. Binatang lain dan motif lain pun banyak dia lukis seperti batu-batuan, lautan, kebun bambu, bunga, ayam, banteng, harimau, dll. Karya-karyanya seperti dapat dibagi dalam berbagai periode sesuai dengan motif yang banyak dia lukis, seperti periode jambangan bunga, periode kebun bambu, periode batu-batuan, periode lautan, periode kucing, periode ayam, dll.

 

Popo sering menyelenggarakan pameran, baik tunggal maupun bersama dengan yang lain, baik dalam negeri maupun di luar negeri. Pada tahun 1960, Popo terpilih sebagai Ketua BPB Kiwari Bandung yang aktif menyelenggarakan diskusi dan pertunjukan kesenian tradisional. Waktu pembentukan PPSS Popo menjadi salah seorang pendiri dan duduk sebagai anggota pengurus yang pertama, bertugas menilai calon anggota. 

 

Pada tahun 1970, Popo terpilih menjadi anggota Akademi Jakarta yang bertugas antara lain menyusun calon anggota Dewan Kesenian Jakarta dan memberikan saran-saran dalam bidang kebudayaan kepada Gubernur DKI Jakarta. Sehubungan dengan genapnya usia Affandi 70 tahun, Akademi Jakarta menugaskan Popo menulis buku tentang Affandi. Hasilnya adalah Affandi: Suatu jalan Baru dalam Realisme (Jakarta, 1977). Popo menjadi anggota tim penyusun buku Sejarah Seni Rupa Indonesia yang diterbitkan oleh Direktorat Kebudayaan Depdikbud (Jakarta, 1982).

Popo Iskandar was a painter, essayist, Sundanese literary critic, and a lecturer in fine arts at IKIP Bandung. He was born in Garut on December 17, 1927, and passed away on January 29, 2000, at the age of 72. His talent in painting was honed by Hendra Gunawan and Barli Samitawinata. His teacher, Ries Mulder, was a Dutch person who taught at the Department of Fine Arts at ITB and tended to align with the Cubism and Abstract art movements. However, the influence of Hendra Gunawan's realism remained strong. 

In his subsequent development, Popo found his own style. His fondness for painting cats earned him the nickname "the cat painter." This master painter was famous for his distinctive paintings featuring cats, created in an expressive style with a minimalist nuance, using thick, textured paint techniques.
Actually, Popo did not only paint cats. He also painted other animals and motifs such as rocks, the sea, bamboo gardens, flowers, chickens, bulls, tigers, and more. His works can be divided into various periods based on the motifs he painted frequently, such as the flower arrangement period, bamboo garden period, rocks period, sea period, cat period, chicken period, etc.

Popo often held exhibitions, both solo and group, domestically and internationally. In 1960, Popo was elected Chairman of BPB Kiwari Bandung, which actively organized discussions and traditional art performances. When the PPSS was formed, Popo became one of the founders and served as a first management member responsible for evaluating prospective members.

In 1970, Popo was elected as a member of the Jakarta Academy, tasked with, among other things, preparing candidates for the Jakarta Arts Council and providing cultural advice to the Governor of DKI Jakarta. In connection with Affandi's 70th birthday, the Jakarta Academy tasked Popo with writing a book about Affandi. The result was Affandi: A New Path in Realism (Jakarta, 1977). Popo also became a member of the team that compiled the book History of Indonesian Fine Arts, published by the Directorate of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture (Jakarta, 1982).

Source: IVAA Online Archive