John Griffiths
At Rest, Bombay
Watercolour, signed and dated '1872' lower left
Image size: 9 1/4 x 12 inches (23 x 30 1/2 cm)
Acid free mount and gilt frame
Born at Llanfair Caereinion, Montgomeryshire, John Griffiths worked in India and is known for his Orientalist style paintings. He studied at the Government School of Design in London, later enrolling at the National Art Training School and the Royal College of Art. Following his academic career, he was employed at the South Kensington Museum where he assisted in decorating the buildings.
In 1865, Griffiths travelled to Mumbai to teach at Bombay School of Art and would later become the principal from 1880 to 1895. While in India he fostered a friendship with John Lockwood Kipling, father of Rudyard Kipling.
His chief accomplishment during this period was preserving the arts of native India through copying paintings in the Buddhist cave temples of Ajanta, of which he would later publish a book on in 1896-97. His oeuvre of Indian landscapes and native life justly show his admiration for the culture of the country His own original pieces are at the Royal Academy and His Majesty the King’s collection.