The interior of an artist's studio, with a lady having her portrait painted

Van Aken began his career in Antwerp as a genre painter in the Flemish tradition, before travelling to London in circa 1720, where he continued to produce genre paintings as well as conversation pieces (see R. Edwards, 'The Conversation Pictures of Joseph van Aken', Apollo, xxii, 1936, pp. 79-85). In the 1730s and 1740s Van Aken abandoned independent work, taking up employment as a drapery painter for other artists, most notably Allan Ramsay, Joseph Highmore, Thomas Hudson and George Knapton. Van Aken's skill was such that several artists may be said to have made their reputations on his work - to the degree that Horace Walpole quipped that: 'Almost every painter's works were painted by Van Aken' (see also J. Steegman, 'A Drapery Painter of the 18th Century', Connoisseur, xcvii, 1936, pp. 309-15; and E. Einberg, ed., catalogue of the exhibition, Manners and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting, 1700-1760, London, Tate Gallery, 1987).