William Verelst (1651–1702)

William Verelst (baptized 28 June 1651, The Hague) was the eighth child of Pieter Verelst and his first wife, Adriana van Gesel.^[1] Pieter Verelst's career as a successful artist suffered in the downturn of the Dutch art market in the 1660s. By 1668, in financial difficulties, Pieter moved with his children to London.^[2] Presumably, William was largely taught by his father and may have worked with his elder brother, Simon Verelst, a highly successful flower painter.

William worked in London as a flower painter.^{[3]: pages 454-462} A number of his flower pieces were sold in London auctions between 1689-1691.^[4] Marshall Smith (1692) praised his work: "Mr. William Verelst Paints Flowers very well."^{[5]: p. 25} He may have worked with one or more of his brothers to produce flower pieces for the lower price range with works ascribed to "Verelst" rather than to an individual member of the family.^{[4]: pages 187-188}

William Verelst was buried in St Giles churchyard, London, on 11 June 1702.^[6] Twelve of his paintings (mostly flower pieces) were included in the sale of Herman Verelst's picture collection on 31 December 1702, suggesting the family used the auction of Herman's collection to also dispose of William's works.^{[7][4]: pages 179-180}

There are no identifiable works with supporting documentary evidence that they are the work of William Verelst. A number of his works were auctioned in his lifetime or immediately on his death. These are listed below.