Dullah was born in Solo in Central Java. His mother worked with batik and painted. As with many other modern Indonesian artists he was autodidact because of the lack of a proper art education. According to Dullah, he learnt a lot from the artists Affandi and Soedjojono who were in the independent movement Putera (Pusat Tenaga Rakyat) which was led by among others, Sukarno and Mohammed Hatta. He produced a few historical important paintings depicting the guerrilla battle against the Dutch army. From 1950-1960 he was the first official palace artist of President Sukarno. In 1956 he selected 206 paintings from his private collection which is depicted and documented in a luxurious publication in 2-parts, printed in China and the text in 4 languages by Dullah and Sukarno. The edition of 6000 pieces flew away. After Dullah stopped as the palace artist, he went to Solo, where he became co-founder of an artists’ association. He later stayed many times on Bali where he established a workshop for realistic art , (Pejeng Art Centre, Bali), because that is where his heart was; painting with reality. In 1970 he opened a museum in Solo, dedicated to his work but where works of among others, Sukarno and Raden Saleh are also shown.