SA painter John Thomas Baines dies in Durban at aged 54. Baines was one of the most prolific artists who painted in South Africa in the mid-19th century. He left England for South Africa and arrived in Cape Town on 23 November 1842. He worked first as a painter for a cabinet-maker in Cape Town, and later as a marine and portrait painter. Baines based himself in the Eastern Cape between 1848 and 1853 and from there he undertook three journeys to the interior. His first journey was beyond the Orange River (1848), beyond the Kei River and over the Winterberg (1849) and an attempt to reach the Okavango Swamps (1850). He became South Africa’s first official war artist and recorded the Eighth Frontier War (1850-1853).

References:

South African History Online, ‘John Thomas Baines’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 7 May 2013)

Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, ‘Baines, John Thomas (1820 - 1875)’, [online], available at www.anbg.gov.au (Accessed: 7 May 2013)