MIERIS, Willem van

Dutch painter, the son and apprentice of the Leiden painter Frans van Mieris. He grew up in the tradition of the ‘fijnschilders’. He adopted his father’s smooth, enamel-like style, but besides genre pieces also produced portraits, landscapes and history pieces. After 1700 Van Mieris specialised in shop and kitchen interiors depicted behind an arched opening. He devoted much attention to detail, and many important collectors liked his dispassionate, meticulous style. For several years Van Mieris was leader of the St Luke’s guild in Leiden. Around 1694 he set up a drawing academy with the artists Toorenvliet and De Moor. His apprentices included his son, Frans van Mieris II. The school remained in existence until 1736, by which time Van Mieris had become partially blind.