The painters active in the first half of the 20th century in the Dutch Indies were a motley crew; the only thing they had in common was that they had all been attracted by the myth of the island-paradise. As was to be expected, the output of this heterogeneous group of professionals, amateurs and ‘tourists’ proved a variable overall. However, some in this group stood out: Roland Strasser, Isaac Israels, Max Fleisher, Walter Spies, and Charles Sayers. The works of these painters managed to break with the conservatism that was common in the arts of the Dutch Indies at that time. A good example of this is the work of Charles Sayers (1901-1943).
