A Peep at the Train by Rudolf Swoboda

Rudolf Swoboda the younger (1859-1914) was a 19th-century Austrian painter, born in Vienna. He studied under Leopold Carl Müller, and voyaged with him to Egypt in 1880. He was a well-known Orientalist.

In 1886, Queen Victoria commissioned Swoboda to paint several of a group of Indian artisans who had been brought to Windsor as part of the Golden Jubilee preparations. Victoria liked the resulting paintings so much that she paid Swoboda's way to India to paint more of her Indian subjects.[1] Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ... A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary of a monarchs reign. ...

Swoboda painted many of the ordinary people of India in a grouping of small (no more than eight inches high) paintings which resulted.

While in India, he stayed, part of the time, with John Lockwood Kipling, and met his son Rudyard Kipling. The younger Kipling was unimpressed with Swoboda, writing to a friend about two "Austrian maniacs" who thought they were "almighty" artists aiming to "embrace the whole blazing East".[2] John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911) was an art teacher, an illustrator, museum curator, and father of Rudyard Kipling. ... Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936) was a British author and poet, born in India. ...

Upon his return from India, he also painted (in 1888 and 1889) two portraits of Abdul Karim, the Munshi, Victoria's favorite Indian servant. Portrait of the Munshi by Rudolf Swoboda Hafiz Abdul Karim CIE (1863?-1909), better known as the Munshi (teacher), was an Indian servant of Queen Victoria who gained her affection in the final fifteen years of her reign. ...

Most of these Indian paintings hang at Osborne House, once Victoria's residence on the Isle of Wight.[3] Osborne House and its grounds are now open to the public Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. // History The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. ... The Isle of Wight is an English island and county, off the southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire. ...