George Geldorp, Georg Geldorp or Jorge Geldorp (1580/1595,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

– 14 November 1665,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

George Geldorp
in the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

) was a Flemish painter who was mainly active in England where he was known for his portraits and

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

s. He was also active as an

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

and

impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...

.M. J. T. M. Stompé and Oliver Millar. "Geldorp." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

Life

Geldorp was the son of the Flemish portrait painter

Gortzius Geldorp Gortzius Geldorp (1553–1618) was a Flemish Renaissance artist who was active in Germany where he distinguished himself through his portrait paintings. Life Gortzius Geldorp was born in Leuven. The early Flemish biographer Karel van Mander ...

who was originally from

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, had trained in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

and later moved to live and work in

. George had two brothers Ferdinand and Melchior who also became painters. Geldorp first trained with his father and worked as a painter in Cologne. He later moved to

where he was admitted as a master in the

Guild of Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was iden ...

in 1610. Two years later his first wife Margriet Parmentiers died in Antwerp on 27 June 1612 in childbirth. Their daughter Anne Marie later married

Remigius van Leemput Remigius van Leemput, known in England simply as Remee, (19 December 1607 – 4 November 1675, aged 67) was a Flemish portrait painter, copyist, collector and art dealer mainly active in England.Richard Jeffree. "Leemput, Remi van." Grove Art Onl ...

, a Flemish portrait painter, copyist, collector and art dealer mainly active in England. He remarried in Antwerp on 5 February 1613 with Anna de Vos, a daughter of the painter Willem de Vos. In 1623, Geldorp moved to London. He worked on the triumphal arch for Charles I's entry into London in 1625. He painted a number of portraits in the Anglo-Netherlandish style, notably of

William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, (28 March 1591 – 3 December 1668), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1605 to 1612, was an English peer, nobleman, and politician. Early years, 1591–1612 Cecil was the son of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of ...

and his wife Catherine in 1626 (

Hatfield House Hatfield House is a Grade I listed English country house, country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean architecture, Jacobean hous ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

) and of Sir

Arthur Ingram Sir Arthur Ingram ( – 1642) was an English investor, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1610 and 1642. The subject of an influential biography, he has been celebrated for his "financial skill an ...

in late 1638/early 1639. He was involved in organizing commissions in England for Flemish and Dutch artists including Rubens,

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

and

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

. He was landlord of Peter Lely, Anthony van Dyck and

Isaac Sailmaker Isaac Sailmaker (born Isaac Zeilmaker; 1633 – 28 June 1721) was an etcher and marine painter of the Baroque period, who had a long career in England. He was referred to in contemporary books and journals as "the father of British sea paintin ...

in London. He rented a house in Blackfriars near van Dyck's studio no later than 1636. On 15 August 1641 he and his wife borrowed 84 pound from van Dyck. This debt was paid off posthumously in 1646. Geldorp had been in business with Van Dyck and also traded in van Dyck copies while living on Orchard Street, Westminster in 1653.He was also an agent for Everard Jabach IV, an art agent and collector of Dutch and Flemish paintings from Cologne but living in Paris, for whom he sourced copies after van Dyck. Most of these copies were produced by his son-in-law Remigius van Leemput. Upon the Restoration, he assisted with the reconstitution of the art collection and possessions of the English royal family and was rewarded for his services with the position of picture mender and cleaner to the King. He was the teacher of

. Geldorp rented a house in Orchard Street from Lawrence Swettnam between 1643 and 1649. He undertook to paint for Swettnam "two good picture to life yearly". The Westminster house was previously occupied by the painters

Alexander Keirincx Alexander KeirincxAlexander Keirincx
at the

Cornelis van Poelenburgh.

Work

George Geldorp was a portrait specialist. His portraits are regarded as less accomplished and more stiffly articulated than those of contemporary painters active in London such as

Daniel Mijtens Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

. The surfaces of his paintings are decorative. The background of the ''Portrait of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury'' contains an historically important view of

with sportsmen in the foreground. Geldorp was also active as a collaborator and copyist of

and later

. The Dutch biographer

Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch people, Dutch Painting, painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadt ...

reported that Geldorp was known to the artist biographer

Joachim von Sandrart Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 – 14 October 1688) was a German Baroque art-historian and painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He is most significant for his collection of biographies of Dutch and German artists the '' ...

. Von Sandrart had written that Geldorp was not a very accomplished draughtsman and had the habit of tracing other's sketches, and then pricking holes in these sketches, and sponging this onto the canvas as a guide to paint his subjects. Houbraken disapproved of this practise and wrote that he preferred to write about painters who were good draughtsmen.Gelsdorf biography
in:

, ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'', 1718

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geldorp, George 1580s births 1665 deaths People from the Spanish Netherlands Expatriates in the Kingdom of England Flemish Baroque painters Flemish portrait painters Flemish history painters Flemish art dealers Painters from Antwerp Surveyors of the King's Pictures Painters from Cologne