Rusli

(b. 1916 – 2005, Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia)

Rusli was a pioneering figure in Indonesian art history, recognised for his distinct style of abstract painting. Beyond his influence as an artist, Rusli also had a formative impact on art education in Indonesia. After a childhood in Medan under Dutch colonial rule, Rusli travelled to India to further his studies. He initially enrolled in medical school, but was soon drawn to the experimental, practice-based, student-led pedagogy of Santiniketan – a unique institution of education whose name carried the meaning “a place of peace”, founded by the writer and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. Rusli thus became one of the first Indonesian artists to enrol at the Visva-Bharati University of Santiniketan, wherein he studied from 1932 to 1939. There he majored in painting while
also studying disciplines such as sculpture, eastern philosophy, architecture, and dance.

Considered a groundbreaking figure in Indonesian abstract painting, Rusli was known for painting the true essence of subject-matter rather than external appearances. This may be attributed to his experiences in Santiniketan – according to an anecdote shared by the artist, as a student he was once instructed to walk in the rain every day, in order to effectively paint a rainy atmosphere. Rusli followed suit, and after personally experiencing the rain, was able to understand and convey its atmosphere through painting. This dedication to capturing the spirit of a subject is evident throughout Rusli’s oeuvre. Using vibrantly-coloured yet translucent layers of paint, sinuous dynamic linework, and precise stylisation, Rusli’s works powerfully evoke the sense and sensation of various subjects. His paintings began from close, detailed observation of real subjects, from which he would distill the essence of what he had seen into deceptively simple lines and colours, creating evocative works rooted in lived experience. Another hallmark of Rusli’s style is his considered use of space. He never completely filled up pictorial planes, instead leaving ample empty space for his images room to breathe, exert themselves, and come alive. Through such techniques, Rusli’s paintings possess a rhythmic, bustling, inhabited energy; they are visually non-realistic, yet deeply true to life.