Aernout Smit (c.1641-1710)
• Aernout Smit was a Dutch Old Masters painter.
• Little is known about Smit’s life.
• In a document dating from 1667, Smit explained that he had painted for some time in an attic rented by the art dealer Laurens Cornelisz. de Coninck in a house on the Singel canal.
• It is assumed that Smit took commissions from this art dealer after completing his training.
• A year earlier, his teacher Blanckerhoff had left the capital, after living there for seven years.
• Smit was married to Marietie Jans Weema, who ran a grocery shop.
• The first time his name appears in the membership list of the St Luke’s Guild in Amsterdam is in 1688.
• He specialised in seascapes, but he also painted landscapes and beach scenes.
• Aernout Smit's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 3,184 USD to 75,669 USD.
• He died in Amsterdam.
