While not as well known as other convict artists, such as Joseph Lycett and Thomas Griffiths Wainewright, Rodius has received praise for his works, and he is represented in several major Australian galleries.

[2][3] As a teenager he moved to Paris, France, where he studied art and worked as a teacher of "music, painting, drawing and languages in families of the first distinction".

Like Thomas Bock, Joseph Lycett, and other transported convicts with artistic abilities, Rodius's skills as a draughtsman were utilised by the colonial authorities and he was assigned to the Department of Public Works in Sydney.

[4] Rodius remained in Australia where he continued to create portraits of well-known colonial identities, including explorer and fellow German Ludwig Leichhardt.

[4] Art critic Christopher Allen calls Rodius's Aboriginal portraits, which include Bungaree and his wife, Cora Gooseberry, honest, lucid, and respectful, not a caricature in any way.