Theo Meier was a Swiss artist from Basel who was especially active in Bali and Thailand. He studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Basel and started his artistic career after receiving an allowance from the Academy. After a successful commissioned portrait, Meier was able to travel to Berlin where he met artists such as Emil Nolde, Max Lieberman and Otto Dix, who taught him a lot about painting techniques.

Inspired by Gauguin, Meier traveled to Tahiti at age 24. He returned desilllusioned however after not having found the primitive way of living he had hoped to see with his own eyes. A year later, Meier went to Bali. He was immediately struck by the beautiful island and it's culture. He settled in Sanur, met other artists on the island and got married relatively quickly in 1936 with a Balinese woman. During the Japanese invasion in the Second World War, Meier was allowed to stay in Bali for Swiss was a neutral state, but a lot of his works were confiscated and lost. In the 1950s, Meier returned to Switzerland for a short period of time. In 1957, he traveled to Thailand, where he would settle in Chiang Mai for the rest of his life, painting the local landscape and people.

Theo Meier worked in a colourful style, resembling Gauguin and the Fauvists. His work can be seen in multiple collections and museums over the world.