Joseph Van Aken, a Flemish artist, who was born in 1709 at Antwerp, who passed a great part of his life in England. He was employed by eminent landscape painters to paint the costumes of the figures in their pictures, in which he was very skilful, and thereby acquired the name of 'Schneider van Aken' (Van Aken the tailor). He also painted on satin and velvet, and produced some excellent works. He died in London in 1749.
This article incorporates text from the article "AKEN, Jozef Van" in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers by Michael Bryan, edited by Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, an 1886–1889 publication now in the public domain.