East Indies a European perspective), archaically called Hither India and Further India. The first is the former British India, the second is Southeast Asia. Regions of the East Indies are sometimes known by the colonial empire they once belonged to, hence, "British East Indies" refers to Malaysia, "Dutch East Indies" means Indonesia, and "Spanish East Indies" means the Philippines. Historically, the king of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) was identified with "Prester John of the Indies", since that part of the world was imagined to be one of "Three Indias". Exploration of these regions by European powers first began in the late 15th century
Dutch East Indies paintings which depicted the scene of East Indies published in Amsterdam in 1930. The term became famous in 1939 after S. Sudjojono used it to mock the painters that merely depict all pretty things about Indies. "Mooi Indie" later would identified as the genre of painting that occurred during the colonial East Indies that capture the romantic depictions of the Indies as the main themes; mostly natural scenes of mountains, volcanoes, rice paddies, river valleys, villages, with scenes of native servants, nobles, and sometimes bare-chested native women. Some of the notable "Mooi Indie" painters are European artists: F.J. du Chattel,