John Absolon was a painter of landscape, seascape and genre in both oil and watercolour, and also a book illustrator. He began his career as a painter of theatrical scenery at Covent Garden. His first exhibition was at Suffolk Street in 1832 at the age of seventeen. In 1835 he travelled to Paris, and on his return in 1838 he became a member of the New Watercolour Society, of which he later became treasurer. In 1850 he helped Thomas Grieve and William Telbin to produce the first diorama, `The Route Overland Mail to India'. He exhibited mainly at the New Watercolour Society, also at the Royal Academy, and the British Institution.