Willem van Aelst (1627 – 1683) and his Paintings

Willem van Aelst (1627 – 1683) and his Paintings Dutch Still Life Painter

Willem van Aelst was born in Delft to a family of prominent city magistrates. He learned to paint from his uncle, the still-life painter Evert van Aelst. On 9 November 1643 he enrolled as a master of the Guild of Saint Luke at Delft.
Between 1645 and 1649 he lived in France. In 1649 travelled Willem van Aelst to Florence, where he served as court painter to Ferdinando II de’ Medici, grand duke of Tuscany. Here he was known as Guillielmo d’Olanda. At this time, the grand duke also employed two fellow Dutchmen Matthias Withoos and Otto Marseus van Schrieck, the latter also a still-life painter who probably influenced Van Aelst’s style. Ferdinando II publicly presented Van Aelst with a gold chain and medal, as a testimony of his approbation and an acknowledgement of his talents.

It has been conjectured that Van Aelst visited Rome where he became a member of the Bentvueghels, an association of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome. This conjecture is based, not very convincingly, on his practice during the years 1657/58 to sign his works with his name followed by: ‘alias (and a drawn stick figure)’. Some interpreted this as a reference to a Bent name (the nickname that a member of the Bentvueghels would adopt) – De Vogelverschrikker (Dutch for ‘scarecrow’)- but there are no documents confirming this.

In 1656 he returned to the Netherlands to settle permanently in Amsterdam. He became one of the most prominent still-life painters of his generation, which allowed him to live on the Prinsengracht. He must have at Amsterdam died in 1683 or shortly thereafter, as his latest dated work is from that year. Van Aelst taught Rachel Ruysch, Isaac Denies, Maria van Oosterwijck, and Ernst Stuven.

Van Aelst settled in Amsterdam in 1657, becoming famous for his ornate still lifes. The fine glassware, silver goblets, fruit, and flowers display the influence of Willem Kalf’s luxurious compositions. Van Aelst was one of the earliest Dutch artists to paint an asymmetrically arranged bouquet. Van Aelst’s other specialty was game pictures; he painted over sixty of them between 1652 and 1681. Each contains the hunter’s quarry along with scrupulous studies of guns, leather pouches, powder horns, and other hunting accessories set on marble slabs.