William Hodges (1744-1797) - English painter and draughtsman

In 1772 he was appointed as draughtsman to Captain James Cook's second journey to the South Seas. From 1775 he supervised the engraving of the plates made after his drawings for Cook's account of the journey in London.

In 1778 he decided to travel to India, where he stayed for 6 years. He was the first English professional landscape painter to visit that country. He accompanied Warren Hastings (1732-1818), the first Governor-General of India, on several journeys through the provinces of Northern India and made many drawings of old towns, Hindu places of worship, forts, but also of the fascinating mountainous landscape. He also stayed with Claude Martin (1735-1800) in Lucknow for a while.

In 1784 he came back to London, where he immediately started to make aquatints after his drawings and paintings he brought from India, which were published in his work 'Selected views in India between 1785 and 1788'.