Indonesian painter Popo Iskandar was deeply involved in the art scene for 55 years as an expressionist artist, cultural essayist, educator, scholar, and art critic. Popo was born and raised in the city of Bandung, a centre of education and culture. He grew up in a musical family where his father practised and sang traditional Sundanese music. He was also interested in the poems of Sutardji Calzoum Bachri which also describe the character of cats. As a result, Popo's compositions are fused with musical perceptions and poetry as seen in the flowing lines, rhythm, and tempo. Popo Iskandar is well known for his paintings of cats which began in the early 1960s. In his compositions of cats, he sought to study the cat's nature through its spirit, which led to observations of cats in all kinds of situations and environments. Popo Iskandar's interest in the arts grew when he undertook a painting course at Keimin Bunka Shidoso, Bandung under the guidance of Barli Sasmitawinata and Hendra Gunawan in 1943. His artistic career began as a poster painter for the Information Service of Indonesian Students Armed Force in 1945. He was then enrolled at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Department of Fine Arts and graduated in 1958. Aside from his role as a lecturer at the State Teachers Training College in Bandung. His bold, graphic works usually feature stylised animal forms with vivid colours. In the 1960s, he created his signature collection of artworks on the topic of cats that reflect on not only the physical attributes but the spiritual understanding of the animal. Popo received numerous accolades during his lifetime and was awarded life membership by the Jakarta Academy for shows held outside of Indonesia, namely in China, Japan, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States of America.