Gerard van Spaendonck (22 March 1746 – 11 May 1822) was a Dutch

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Life

Gerard was born in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

, an older brother of Cornelis van Spaendonck (1756–1840), who was also an accomplished artist. In the 1760s he studied with decorative painter Willem Jacob Herreyns (also known as Guillaume-Jacques Herreyns) (1743–1827) 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 ...

. In 1769 he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where in 1774 he was appointed miniature painter in the court of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

. In 1780 he succeeded Madeleine Françoise Basseporte (1701–1780) as professor of floral painting at the

Jardin des Plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

, and shortly afterwards was elected as a member of the

Académie des beaux-arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

. Among his pupils were

Pierre-Joseph Redouté Pierre-Joseph Redouté (, 10 July 1759 – 19 June 1840), was a Painting, painter and botanist from the Austrian Netherlands, known for his watercolours of roses, lily, lilies and other flowers at the Château de Malmaison, many of which we ...

and Henriette Vincent. Gerard van Spaendonck painted with both

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and watercolors. He contributed over fifty works to '' Les Vélins du Roi'', a famous collection of

botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

watercolors possessed by French royalty. From 1799 to 1801 he published twenty-four plates of ''Fleurs Dessinees d'apres Nature'' (Flowers Drawn from Life), which were high-quality engravings for students of floral painting. Today, Spaendonck's ''Fleurs Dessinées d'après Nature'' is a highly treasured book on

floral art Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, mo ...

. In 1788 he was appointed adviser to the Académie, and in 1795 became a founding member of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

. In 1804 he received the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and soon afterwards was ennobled by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Spaendonck died in

in 1822 and is buried in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

Gallery

Image:Gerard Van Spaendonck - Bouquet.jpg, ''Bouquet of tulips, roses and an opium poppies, with a pale clouded yellow butterfly, a red longhorn beetle and a sevenspotted ladybug'' Image:Gerard Van Spaendonck - Still Life.jpg, ''Still life of flowers in a basket with two butterflies, a dragonfly, a fly and a beetle near an alabaster urn on a marble pedestal'' Image:Gerard Van Spaendonck - Jacinthe.jpg, ''Jacinthe double''. Image:Gerard Van Spaendonck - Tulipe.jpg, ''Tulipe des jardins.''

References

Arader Galleries
Gerard van Spaendonck biography

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaendonck, Gerard van Dutch male painters 1746 births 1822 deaths People from Tilburg Painters from North Brabant Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Members of the Académie des beaux-arts 18th-century Dutch painters 18th-century Dutch male artists 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch flower artists Recipients of the Legion of Honour 19th-century Dutch male artists