National Gallery of Art

Biography

Willem van Aelst was born in Delft in 1627. He was a pupil of his uncle, Evert van Aelst (1602-1658), a still-life painter in the same city. His father held the respected position of Notaris in Delft; hence, it is likely that Van Aelst came from a wealthy family. He joined the Saint Luke's Guild there on 9 November 1643. Swillens (see person bibliography) has determined that Van Aelst was a Catholic; otherwise little information is known about his personal life. From 1645 until 1649 Van Aelst lived in France; he subsequently lived in Italy until 1656. While in Florence, Van Aelst worked as an assistant to the Dutch still-life painter Otto Marseus van Schrieck (1619/1620-1678) when the latter was employed by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand II de Medici. Van Aelst eventually received a gold medal and gold chain for his service. In 1656 he and Van Schrieck returned to the north. After a short period of time in Delft, Van Aelst moved to Amsterdam, where he remained for the rest of his life. At his death in 1683 he left a wife and three children.

In 1672 Van Aelst was one of seven Dutch painters, including Van Schrieck, who were asked to judge the merits of a collection of Italian paintings sold to the Great Elector of Brandenburg by the Amsterdam art dealer Gerrit Uylenburgh. They declared the paintings worthless. The flower painter Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) was a student of Van Aelst's, and he influenced a number of other artists, including W. G. Ferguson (1632/33-after 1695), Elias van den Broeck (c. 1650-1708), and Simon Verelst (l644-1721).

Van Aelst specialized in still-life painting, but within this genre he was quite versatile, painting fruit and flower pieces, and, above all, hunting scenes, with dead game and hunting gear. This type of picture became very popular after mid-century. Van Aelst seems to have been particularly influential in the development of this genre; his paintings were greatly praised, and he received high prices for them. [This is an edited version of the artist's biography published, or to be published, in the NGA Systematic Catalogue]

Bibliography

1753

Houbraken 1753, 1:228-230, 358.

1946

Swillens, P.T.A. "R.K. Kunstenaars in de 17de Eeuw." Katholiek Cultureel Tijdschrift (15 January 1946):416-419.

1956

Bergström, Ingvar. Dutch Still-Life Painting in the Seventeenth Century. Translated by Christina Hedström and Gerald Taylor. London, 1956: 220-224.

1969

Bol, Laurens J. Holländische Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts nahe den Grossen Meister. Landschaft und Stilleben. Braunschweig, 1969: 324-327.

1982

Montias, John Michael. Artists and Artisans in Delft: A Socio-Economic Study of the Seventeenth Century. Princeton, 1982.

1984

Sullivan, Scott A. The Dutch Gamepiece. Montclair, 1984, 51-56, 70-72, 97.

1995

Wheelock, Jr., Arthur K. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 3.