Born near Frankfurt in September 1808, the painter and naturalist Ludwig Becker is suspected to have been one of the 1848 democrats in Mainz. He also may have had this mindset when he arrived in Tasmania in March 1851. Springing from this suspicion of revolutionary background is the thesis of Becker’s compassion for the indigenous people of Australia and the notion that his portrayal of them happened with a realism and respect that imparted to the portrayed dignity and individualism. Furthermore, most scholars writing about Becker consider his portrayal of the indigenous Australians to be largely free of the cultural bias and the aura of racism of the time. However, we examine some of his portraits in the light of the ‘dying race’ trope, the policy of protectionism, and the Bourke and Wills expedition, the colonialist endeavour that ultimately led to Becker’s death. And we reached the conclusion that Becker’s images of indigenous Australians provide complex evidence of the profound effects of contemporary racism.