Jeihan Sukmantoro, the Grand Old Man of Indonesian Modernism Art, is known for his painting of hollow black eyes since his 1965 Gadis. The black eyes are not restricted to his human portraits but animals as well. Art-writer Ooi Kok Chuen dubbed Jeihan a “soul catcher” and in his interview with Jeihan in his (Jeihan’s) three-and-a-half-storey studio in Kota Bandung, Jeihan explained the ‘Black Eyes’: “We are all walking and working in darkness and mystery. We don’t know where we are going, what will happen tomorrow. (The Star, Oct 23, 2011). Jeihan had a major exhibition celebrating ‘50 Years of Black Eyes’ at his studio in September-October, 2015. His portrait of six Indonesian president’s measuring 300cm x 800cm is now in the Presidential Palace Museum in Bogor. Jeihan does portraits of dignitaries and the common people, especially women. He also likes to paint dancers. “I want to capture the aura of a person,” he had told Ooi in the same interview. Jeihan also does sculptures and ceramics and is also a published poet. A rebel, he studied at the Bandung Institute of Art (ITB) but did not complete as he did not believe in an academic certificate. His career got a shot in the arm when he had a duet exhibition with Sudjojono, dubbed the Father of Indonesian Modernism, in Jakarta in 1985. Jeihan has had solos not only in Indonesia but in Rome (Italy), Rotterdam (Netherlands), New Jersey (United States), Paris (France) and Zurich (Switzerland).