Dato Hoessein Enas was a portrait artist par excellence, coming from a Dutch Indie tradition as exemplified by Basuki Abdullah. The same colour palette used for the dress of the girl and the overall backdrop seems to suggest a calm demeanour and with a simplicity of taste. Indonesian-born Hoessein, who received his Malaysian citizenship in 1956, was made a royal painter (Selangor) in May 1990, and awarded a Datoship on March 1991. He was honoured with a Retrospective in 1966 by the National Art Gallery. He first stepped foot in Malaya in Singapore in 1947 and moved to Penang in 1948. In Kuala Lumpur, he formed the Angkatan Pelukis SeMenanjung (now SeMalaysia) noted for its proficiency in portraiture. Among his awards were a Unesco/Asia Foundation grant (1960), United States fellowship (1968), Colombo Plan award (1968 and 1976).