George Geldorp

Georg Geldorp, also known as George Geldorp or Jorge Geldorp (1580/1595, Cologne – 4 November 1665, London), was a Flemish painter who primarily worked in England. He was famous for his portraits and history paintings, as well as his work as an art dealer and impresario.

Geldorp received his artistic training in Cologne and later became a Master in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in 1610. He moved to London in 1623 and painted numerous portraits in the Anglo-Netherlandish style. In addition to his own work, he organized commissions in England for other Flemish and Dutch artists, such as Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Peter Lely. After the Restoration, Geldorp helped restore the English Royal family's art collection and received the post of picture mender and cleaner to the King as a reward for his services.

Geldorp was also a teacher, with Isaac Sailmaker counted among his pupils. While renting a house in Orchard Street, he agreed to paint "two good picture to life yearly" for his landlord, Lawrence Swettnam, between 1643 and 1649. Geldorp's portraits are often considered to be less accomplished and more rigid than those of his contemporaries, such as Daniel Mijtens. However, his paintings' decorative surfaces have been noted, and he collaborated with Anthony van Dyck and later Peter Lely on occasion. It has been reported that Geldorp was known to artist biographer Joachim von Sandrart, but Arnold Houbraken criticized Geldorp's tracing of other artists' sketches and preferred to write about painters who were skilled in drawing.