Leonardus Joseph Eland was born in Java in 1884. He was a self-taught artist who lived and worked in Indonesia. Eland played important role in the Union of Dutch East Indies Art Circles in the beginning of the twentieth century. In the Indies, he was admired as highly esteemed artist, and participated in several exhibitions organized by the ‘Batavia Kunstkring’ until 1920 when he left to settle in The Hague. His work was selected for the International Colonial Exhibition in Paris in 1931, but was unfortunately destroyed by fire. He passed away in The Hague, The Netherlands in 1952. His works can be found today in several Dutch museums, such as Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam and Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara in Delfi.