Menno van Meeteren Brouwer

Menno van Meeteren Brouwer was a Dutch illustrator, painter, and cartoonist known for his depictions of life in the Dutch East Indies. Born in Zwolle, the Netherlands, he studied at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten from 1904 to 1907 and later worked as an illustrator for school and children’s books, as well as a poster designer and political cartoonist.

Between 1910 and 1922, Brouwer lived and worked in Indonesia, producing portraits, landscapes, and drawings that documented everyday life in the colony. His works captured both Indonesian society and the Western communities living there, often presenting recognizable scenes of local life. In 1912, he also created a series of caricatures portraying the political and cultural atmosphere of colonial Indonesia for a publication by D. K. Baldzert.