Career
He was noted for his skill in painting fabrics, and was employed as a costume painter by many leading artists. Van Aken painted drapery for most of the leading artists in London, particularly Thomas Hudson and Allan Ramsay. Horace Walpole commented
As in England almost everybody"s picture is painted, so almost every painter"s work is painted by Vanaken
He lived in Southampton Row, Bloomsbury, where he died in 1749.
According to Vertue he was about fifty years old at the time of his death, and had spent more than 30 years in England.
Van Aken has paintings in public collections including seventeen in the United Kingdom.