Footnotes

Provenance
Previously from the Estate of Mr. Hendra Hadiprana, Jakarta, Indonesia (acquired directly from the artist)
United Asian Auctioneers Hong Kong, 24 November 2012, lot 51
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner
Private collection, Singapore

阿曼德·薩達利
書法
綜合媒體 畫布
1980年作

簽名：Sadali 1980（右下）藝術家標籤（畫背）

來源
印尼雅加達知名建築師Hendra Hadiprana舊藏（得自藝術家本人）
香港，亞洲聯合拍賣會，2012年11月24日，拍品編號51
現藏家購自上述來源
新加坡私人收藏

Lauded as the "father of Indonesian abstract art", Ahmad Sadali played a prominent role in the development of modern Islamic art in Indonesia. Sadali, along with Srihadi Soedarsono, Mochtar Apin and But Muchtar, was amongst the leading pioneer artists who graduated from the prestigious Bandung Institute of Technology in West Java. As both an intellectual and a pious artist, he successfully highlighted Islamic values and beliefs in his art and pedagogy. Through his practice of formalist abstraction inspired by the works of Mark Rothko and Antoni Tàpies, Sadali strove to modernise Indonesia's Islamic art.

In the late 1960s, Sadali began his experiment with Quranic calligraphy in his painting, making him a critical figure in the development of calligraphic modernism in Indonesia. His work made in the 1970s and 1980s demonstrates a shift in the use of colours from vivid tones to a more restrained and earthy palette that embodies a sense of balance and moderation.

Completed in 1980, the present work conveys the quintessential message of Islam. It incorporates Arabic calligraphy and the verse from the Quran Surah An Nur 37 into its composition to remind the viewers of Allah's blessings and the Islamic way of life. The text of the verse is as follows: "By men who are not distracted—either by buying or selling—from Allah's remembrance, or performing prayer, or paying alms-tax. They fear a Day when hearts and eyes will tremble" (Quran 24: 37). The painting reveals Sadali's search for a meaningful spiritual life under Allah's guidance, as opposed to relying on materialistic pursuits in this transitory world.

As a devout Muslim, Sadali viewed artmaking as a transcendental act to evoke devotion and contemplation to Allah. His paintings, which create a meditative visual experience of the Islamic spirituality, not only inspire the viewers to shed light on the profundities of our own existence but also affirm his role as Indonesia's most important modernist artist of the 20th century.