Jacob van der Does II was an accomplished Dutch artist known predominantly for landscape paintings.

Born in The Hague to Jacob van der Does the Elder and Margaretha Boortens, van der Does the Younger was initially apprenticed to his father before studying with both Karel Dujardin (1626-1678) and Caspar Netscher (1639-1684). Dujardin was a close friend of his father’s, yet the two would often disagree at length on artistic matters. Dujardin was an advocate of what Arnold Houbraken, the biographer, described as ‘the bright’ way of painting, whereas van der Does the Elder championed ‘the brown’ way of painting.

Very few examples of the son’s works exist as it’s said he was rather temperamental and destroyed many of them. It’s also conceivable that some have mistakenly been attributed to the father. Indeed, this very piece was previously catalogued as a work by Jacob van der Does the Elder.

In around 1675, van der Does the Younger moved to Amsterdam and trained under Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711), before returning to The Hague, where he remained for 19 years. Following the death of his father in 1673, it’s likely that he gained the patronage of additional clientele, but little is known of this period.

His brother was the artist Simon van der Does (1653-1718), whose career was blighted by poverty, in part due to his wife’s ‘spendthrift lifestyle’.

Timeline

1654

Born in The Hague to Jacob van der Does the Elder and Margaretha Boortens.

Apprenticed to his father.

Studied with Karel Dujardin (1626-1678) and Caspar Netscher (1639-1684).

1675-1678

Worked in Amsterdam.
Trained under Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711).

1679-1698

Worked in The Hague.

1698

Travelled to Paris with the ambassador Coenraad van Heemskerk.

1698-1699

Worked in Paris.

1699

Died in Paris.