Early Life and Background Gottfried Lindauer, born Bohumír Lindauer in Pilsen (Czech Republic) on January 5, 1839, was a Czech and New Zealand painter whose artistic career would become inextricably linked to the history of Māori culture. His father, Ignatz Lindauer, was a gardener, shaping young Gottfried’s initial appreciation for botanical detail – an influence that would subtly permeate his later paintings. From 1855, he pursued formal artistic training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria, where he studied under Leopold Kupelwieser and Joseph von Führich, mastering classical te…