He was born Bohumír Lindauer in Plzeň (Pilsen), Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now part of the Czech Republic) on 5 January 1839.

From 1855 Lindauer studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he took classes of Leopold Kupelwieser, Joseph von Führich and Professor Rohl.

[3] Many prominent Māori chiefs commissioned his work, which accurately records their facial tattoos, clothing, ornaments and weapons.

[4] Lindauer's Maori paintings are, like many by Ellen von Meyern and Frances Hodgkins, associated with symbolist portraits of demure females with or without a child.

[2] After visiting his native land in 1886–87, he settled in Woodville, near Wellington, having shortly before married Rebecca, the daughter of Benjamin Prance Petty.