Background
He was born in the village of Meer (now part of Hoogstraten, in the Belgian province of Antwerp).
He was born in the village of Meer (now part of Hoogstraten, in the Belgian province of Antwerp).
He studied at the Academy of Antwerp.
At the Academy he became acquainted with Georges Frédéric Ziesel and January Frans Eliaerts who specialised in flower pieces like him. He was one of the founders in 1788 of a society of artists known as the Genootschap ter aanmoediging der Schoone Kunsten, known under its short form as the Konstmaatschappij (the "Art Society"). Other founders included Hendrik Frans de Cort, Balthasar Paul Ommeganck, Mission Herry, January Josef Horemans, Ferdinand Verhoeven, Hendrik Aarnout Myin, Frans Balthazar Solvyns, Mattheus Ignatius van Bree, Maria Jacoba Ommeganck, Marten Waefelaerts and many others
The purpose of the society was the promotion and appreciation of the artworks of its various members in an informal setting.
The first exhibition of the society was held in Antwerp in 1789. His work was very well received and his patrons included Maria Christina, the joint regent of the Austrian Netherlands.
She took many of his paintings back to Vienna upon her return. Through marriage he was linked to the Antwerp neo-classicist painter Andries Cornelis Lens.
He died in Antwerp.
