John van der Sterren was born in Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia in 1938. As a New Zealand artist of Dutch origin, he has been living in Java and Bali for more than 26 years. As a self-taught artist who later became an artist member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Art, John originally joined in the advertising industry from 1957 and worked for 25 years with one of New Zealand’s leading advertising agencies. He was stationed by the company to manage their office in Indonesia in 1983 and left the industry in 1991, before he met Didier Hamel form Duta Fine Arts Foundation in Jakarta who supported him to devote his life to art. He has exhibited in numerous places in Indonesia and abroad. In 2001, Hexart Publishing in Jakarta published the first full volume of his works, titled “Tropical Journey”. Following the success of the first publication, Hexart published a second book on his works in 2008 titled “Colourful Horizons”. Today John van der Sterren works are one of the most popular choices among collectors throughout Indonesia and many parts of the world.