Paul Tetar van Elven, the artist, collector and teacher of drawing, lived in this canal house at the Koornmarkt in Delft from 1864 until 1894. As an artist, he mainly painted portraits, historical pieces and copies of old masters, a selection of which is hanging on the museum walls.
Personal style
Paul Tetar van Elven bestowed his own unique and personal touch on the house. In 1886, as a homage to the old masters, he hired Abraham Gips, his successor at Polytechnische School in Delft, to paint the names of the old masters on the ceiling of his salon. The rooms are lined with antique furniture, Asian porcelain and Delftware, which gives a good impression of what life was like for the 19th-century bourgeoisie.
