John Closterman

A later painting of The Marlborough family by John Closterman. On the Duke's left are Elizabeth, Mary, the Duchess, Henrietta, Anne and John.

John Closterman (also spelt Cloosterman, Klosterman; 1660 – 24 May 1711 (buried)) was a Westphalian portrait painter of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His subjects were mostly European noblemen and their families.

Career Born in Osnabrück in the Holy Roman Empire (now in Lower Saxony), Closterman was the son of an artist who taught him the rudiments of design.

In 1679, Closterman went to Paris and worked under François de Troy. In 1681, he went to England. He worked for John Riley, painting the draperies in Riley's portraits

When Riley died in 1691, Closterman finished several of his portraits. Because of his work on Riley's portraits, Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, hired him to create some paintings. However, Somerset became dissatisfied with the purchase of a painting by the Italian painter Guercino that Closterman had tried to arrange for him, ending the relationship. Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax eventually purchased the portrait.

In 1696, Closterman was invited to the court of Spain, where he painted a portrait of Charles II of Spain, his wife, Mariana of Austria and some others. He also travelled to Italy twice, where he bought several artworks. When he returned to England, Closterman found a high demand for his services among the social elite.

At this time, he married an Englishwoman, Hannah; she died and was buried on 27 January 1702. Jacob Campo Weyerman, who took much of his biographical material from Houbraken, states "Closterman had taken a beautiful mistress who, while he was away in the country, robbed him of his valuables and disappeared, actions which drove the painter into madness".

Closterman died in 1711 and was buried in Covent Garden churchyard in London.

The Churchill portrait is now part of the collection at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.

Identity For many years John Closterman and his artist brother John Baptist Closterman have been conflated in biographies, such as those in the Dictionary of National Biography and the Encyclopedia Britannica. An article by J. D. Stewart in The Burlington Magazine sets the record straight, citing John Closterman's will, which left part of his estate to "my Deare and Loveing Brother John Baptist".