Aert Schouman

At the age of fifteen, Aert Schouman was apprenticed to fellow townsman Adriaen van der Burg. In 1736, Schouman founded the Brotherhood of Saint Luke, an association of art lovers and amateurs. Between 1748 and 1753 he lived alternately in Dordrecht and The Hague. In the 1950s he was chairman of the Pictura painters’ brotherhood in The Hague for four years. The painter had pupils in Dordrecht and The Hague, including his cousin Martinus Schouman. Schouman’s oeuvre is relatively small and consists mainly of portraits and large wall paintings. He was versatile: initially he painted biblical and mythological themes, later decorative compositions with birds.