Alongside S. Sudjojono and Hendra Gunawan, Affandi is considered one of three key modern artists in Indonesian modern art history. Essentially self-taught, Affandi began painting steeped in Indonesian arts and culture. He developed an interest in painting early in his life. At the tender age of seven, he was reputed to be able to draw from memory the whole pantheon of wayang kulit (shadow puppetry) figures that remains till today an integral part of Indonesian visual culture. His foray into painting was via commercial means, having begun as a billboard painter amongst other odd jobs, but he was always cognizant of the artistic spirit and independence within him and sought to paint life as he saw and felt it.

Sang Nelayan (The Fisherman) (Lot 2113) is a superlative piece dated to 1958, the earliest work of Affandi in this sale. The fisherman is depicted, close to life-size, wearing a typical fisherman's hat, returning from a hard day's work out at sea, with his catch in a basket slung over his shoulder. Affandi has painted the fisherman in a heroic full-figure pose, glowing red against a heavily finished background typical of Affandi's works from the 1950s. Employing the perspective of scale, Affandi has painted the fisherman's boat comparatively smaller and moored ashore.

Not oft-cited enough is the fact that Affandi's figurative works are particularly outstanding in depicting the emotion and personality of his subjects. Man with Cockerel (Lot 2114) is dated to the 1960s, generally considered an outstanding decade of Affandi's works. The painting is an outstanding example where Affandi paints the visage of his subject with the subject's emotions clearly perceptible instead of conveying his own emotion as painter through the application of paint. The well-painted picture of a man cradling and grooming his prized fighting cock is a truly rare subject in his oeurve, depicted to the greatest of attention by Affandi.