Gerard Van Spaendonck
Artist and teacher Gerard van Spaendonck (1746–1822) had a distinguished career as a botanical artist and as a renowned teacher of the three famous Redoute brothers. Gerard was born in Holland and studied drawing in Antwerp. In the early years he was greatly influenced by van Gijsum, but still he developed his own style and achieved unprecedented transparency in watercolors. He and his younger brother Cornelis (Cornelis van Spaendonck, 1756-1840) at the beginning of their careers worked as designers and painters in a porcelain factory in Sevres near Paris. Gerard, having moved four years later to Versailles, gained fame at the royal court as a miniaturist and teacher of painting. Over the years, she and her brother were elected to the Royal Academy
