Marten Jozef Geeraerts

Paired with:

• Venus surrounded by Putti

Essay:

Marten Jozef Geeraerts began his career as a pupil of Abraham Godyn in Antwerp where he appears to have spent most of his life. In 1731 he was elected a member of the Guild of Antwerp and later, in 1741, he was appointed a Director and Professor of the Academy.

Geeraerts specialised in very finely painted trompe l'oeil compositions which were much in the style of his contemporary Jacob de Wit. These two artists became the most important exponents of this artistic genre during the eighteenth century in Holland and Flanders. He gained many important commissions during his lifetime and was often given the commission over some of his illustrious contemporaries, for example Dirck van der Aa and Aert Schouman. Works can be found in large private residences all around Holland, as well as in royal houses, particularly for William V and in many public buildings (for example the Orphanage in Leiden). His pupil was the grisaille painter Pieter Joseph Sauvage.

Provenance:

Private Collection, France