Simon Pietersz Verelst (1644–1721?) was a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

painter. He is known for outstanding flower and fruit still life paintings.

Biography

Verelst was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He was the son of Pieter Harmensz Verelst and became a pupil in the

Confrerie Pictura The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague (the Netherlands) by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there. History The guild of St. Luke in the Hague existed a ...

at the same time as his brother Herman in 1663.Simon Pietersz Verelst
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 ...

In 1668 he moved to London and on 11 April 1669 he met with

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

. His elegant portraits became popular for a time during the 1670s among court circles. He painted this portrait of

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

, son of Frederick V, Count Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart. It seems Verelst began to suffer from bouts of insanity, which was reflected in a portrait with flowers on a gigantic scale, who called himself "''the God of Flowers''". In 1709, according to

Weyerman Jacob Campo Weyerman (9 August 1677 – 9 March 1747) was a painter and writer during the period known as the Dutch Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment. His work encompassed flower and fruit still life paintings, satirical magazines, plays, and b ...

, he lived down the

Strand, London The Strand (commonly referred to with a leading "The", but formally without) is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End Theatre, West End theatreland, runs just over from Tra ...

at the art dealer William Lovejoy, who had him locked up for his bouts of unbridled aggression.

Family tree

References

External links

Simon Pietersz Verelst
on

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...

Simon Verelst
on PubHist {{DEFAULTSORT:Verelst, Simon Pietersz 1644 births 1710 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Painters from The Hague Dutch still life painters Dutch portrait painters