W. Mertens
Flemish still life painter
W. Mertens, known also as Wouter Mertens (fl. 1650 – 1675) was a Flemish still-life painter, active in Antwerp who is known for his fruit still lifes and pronkstillevens. His work shows the influence of Jan Davidszoon de Heem, a Dutch still-life painter who was active in Antwerp from the mid-1630s.
Life
Nothing is known about the life of Mertens other than that he was likely active in Antwerp in the third quarter of the 17th century.
While a Wouter Mertens was registered as a wijnmeester (son of a master) in the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp in the guild year 1641–1642, this person was a borduerwerker, i.e., an embroidery worker. This person is, therefore, unlikely the same person as W. Mertens. While some works are signed as 'W. Mertens' or show remains of a signature which indicate that his first name started with a W, there is no full signature that shows his first name as 'Wouter'. This first name seems to have been attributed to the artist based on confusion with the Wouter Mertens registered as an embroidery worker.
As it would be unlikely for a painter to be active in Antwerp without registering at the local guild, some art historians have hypothesized that the artist should be identified with the Antwerp painter and art dealer Cornelis Mertens. Cornelis Mertens was registered with the Guild of Antwerp as a painting apprentice in the guild year 1644–45 studying under Abraham Matthyssen.
The public source identifies “W. Mertens” as flemish still life painter. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mertens, Flemish and still.
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This entry incorporates text from “W. Mertens” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.