John Absolon

[2] He was described in a profile in The Art Journal as "one among many artists who have raised themselves by energy and perseverance alone to a good position in their profession and in society".

By the age of 15 he was earning a living as a portrait painter, and two years later he was working as a theatrical scene-painter, contributing the figures to stage sets at Drury Lane and Covent Garden.

[2] He showed two oil paintings on religious subjects at the British Institution in 1837, but dissatisfied with the direction of his work, left for Paris the next year, accompanied by his wife.

James Dafforne, writing in the Art Journal, said of Absolon: There are few figure painters whose works show a greater variety of subject than Mr. Absolon's; his style of treatment is natural and unaffected, his pencilling free yet careful, and his colouring brilliant without exaggeration, or a straining after effect by violent contrasts.

[6] His works include: This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain.