Theo Meier was born in Basle, Switzerland, in 1908. As a young man he was schooled at the Basle School of Art, and then went to Germany to attend Berlin Academy. In Berlin, Meier became acquainted with well-known artists such as Karl Hofer, Max Liebermann, Otto Dix, and Emil Nolde, a contemporary painter whom he highly respected. He then travelled to Dresden, and enrolled in Dresden Academy where he studied under Otto Dix, who helped to refine Meier's artistic style. After returning to Switzerland Meier was commissioned to paint portraits of renowned musicians Arthur Honegger and Igor Stravinsky.

Meier, who had admired Gauguin and the writings of Jacques Rousseau, then set sail on his own tour of the South Pacific. In Tahiti he was i...