Frans van der Mijn

1719 - 1783 Dutch

Ritrattista olandese attivo in Inghilterra

Frans van der Mijn fu un pittore del XVIII secolo originario dei Paesi Bassi settentrionali. Secondo l'Istituto olandese per la storia dell'arte (RKD), era figlio di Herman van der Mijn e nacque quando suo padre si trasferì a Düsseldorf per lavorare per Giovanni Guglielmo, elettore palatino. Influenzò il pittore James Latham. Lavorò ad Amsterdam tra il 1742 e il 1748 e all'Aia prima di tornare in Inghilterra, dove si occupò di ritratti e inviò un dipinto ogni anno alla Society of Artists di Londra tra il 1761 e il 1772. In 1750 Johan van Gool wrote about him, his father, his brothers Robert, George, Andreas and Gerard, and his sister Cornelia who were all good painters. In 1808 Edward Edwards wrote the following about him: "Frank Vandermine, or Vander Mijne: A native of Holland, who lived many years in England, and practised as a portrait painter, both in London and the country. He was some time at Norwich, where he painted several heads. He had considerable merit as an artist, but was of mean address and vulgar manners: He loved smoking and drinking, nor would forego his pipe, though it was offensive to his employers, so that he never acquired the practice which he might otherwise have obtained. He boasted, that after he had painted a portrait, the likeness remained so strong upon his memory, that if the picture were immediately obliterated, he could repaint the resemblance without the assistance of the sitter. He died in indigent circumstances, at his apartments in Moorfields, some time in 1783.