Romualdo Locatelli’s Ritratto di Fu Ku Ko (Portrait of Fu Ku Ko) and Juan Luna’s En el Palco (In the Theater Box) are rare and superb examples of European Academic style that influenced early 20th Century Modern Southeast Asian Paintings, combining evocative brushstrokes with a balanced and refined composition. These depictions of Indonesian and Filipino society in the first half of the 20th century are also rich with historical and allegorical references that give the paintings gravitas beyond their enigmatic beauty.