John Wood was an English History and portrait painter. The Son of John George Wood, landscape artist and drawing-master, he was born in London.
He studied in Sass's school and at the Royal Academy, where in 1825, he gained the gold medal for painting.

In 1834, he competed successfully for the commission for the altar-piece of St. James's, Bermondsey, and in 1836, gained a prize at Manchester for his ‘Elizabeth in the Tower.’

During the latter part of his career he painted chiefly scripture subjects and portraits, which he exhibited largely at the Royal Academy and British Institution down to 1862. His portraits of Sir Robert Peel, Earl Grey, John Britton (in the National Portrait Gallery), and others have been engraved, as well as several of his fancy subjects.