Albert van Spiers - A floral frontispiece with a portrait medallion of Agnes Block

Albert van Spiers (baptized on 18 November 1665,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

– buried on 9 November 1718,

), was a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

painter. He is mainly known for interior decorations in the houses of the

Canals of Amsterdam Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has more than of '' grachten'' (canals), about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals (Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht), dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form c ...

Biography

According to Houbraken he travelled to Italy and joined the

Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which included ...

with the nickname "Piramied".Albert van Spiers mentioned in Bentvogel poem
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by

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

, courtesy of the

Digital library for Dutch literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

While in Italy he became friends with the Dutch painter

Jacob de Heusch Jacob de Heusch (November 23, 1656 (bapt.) - May 8, 1701), was a Dutch painter. He was Willem de Heusch's nephew, signing like his uncle, substituting an initial J for the initial G (of ''Guglielmo''). Life De Heusch was born in Utrecht. He l ...

in Italy, who died from a fall after visiting the Spiers workshop in Amsterdam in 1701. According to Jan van Gool, he was a pupil of

Gerard de Lairesse Gerard or Gérard (de) Lairesse (11 September 1641 – June 1711) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. His broad range of skills included music, poetry, and theatre. De Lairesse was influenced by the Perugian Cesare Ripa and Fr ...

in Amsterdam.Albert van Spiers
in

Jan van Gool Johan, or Jan van Gool (1685–1763), was a Dutch painter and writer from The Hague, now remembered mainly as a biographer of artists from the Dutch Golden Age. Life Jan van Gool was a pupil of Simon van der Does and Mattheus Terwesten.

's ''Nieuwe Schouburg'', 1750, courtesy of the

historici.nl The Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands was formed on January 1, 2011 through a merger of the Institute of Dutch History ( nl, 'Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis', ING) a research institute of the Netherlands Organisation f ...

Other sources also mention

Willem van Ingen Willem van Ingen, or Guilhelmo Den Eersten (1651–1708), was a Dutch Golden Age painter active in Italy. Biography According to Houbraken, he learned to paint in Utrecht and attracted the attention of Johannes van Neercassel, who took him alon ...

as his teacher. After his apprenticeship he travelled to Rome and Venice before returning to Amsterdam to set up his own workshop in 1697, specializing in ceiling, over-the-door and over-the-mantelpiece decorations for the large patrician canal houses on the

Herengracht The Herengracht () is the second of four Amsterdam canals belonging to the canal belt and lies between the Singel and the Keizersgracht. The Gouden Bocht (Golden Bend) in particular is known for its large and beautiful canal houses. History Th ...

and

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengr ...

. According to the RKD he worked in Rome, Venice, and the Hague, and became a member of 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 ...

in 1699.Albert van Spiers
in the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

His pupil was

Jacob de Wit Jacob de Wit (19 December 1695 – 12 November 1754) was a Dutch artist and interior decorator who painted many religious scenes. Biography Jacob de Wit was born in Amsterdam, and became famous for his door and ceiling paintings. He lived on ...

, who continued to make similar interior decorations.

References

Albert van Spiers
on

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiers, Albert van 1665 births 1718 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Painters from Amsterdam Members of the Bentvueghels