Germain was born and died in Dordrecht. According to Houbraken he was born the same day as William III of Orange, on November 14, 1650.[1] He was a pupil of Godfried Schalcken and later of Ludowyk Smits, called Hartkamp, who taught him the new way of fruit painting.[1] He was successful at this, but switched to painting landscapes in garden pergola's and other such household decorations.[1] Germyn was still living when Houbraken was writing and had stopped painting in order to devote himself entirely to art dealing.[1]
According to the RKD though he is registered as a pupil of Godfried Schalcken and Caspar Smits, no known works survive that are attributed to him.[2]
