Biography
Nationality
Dutch
John van Diest came from a dynasty of Dutch painters, originally from The Hague. His grandfather, Willem van Diest was a marine painter who settled in England with his son, Adriaen van Diest, the landscape painter, in 1672. Born in England, John van Diest may have been a pupil of Kneller. He worked as a copyist and painted portraits as well as landscapes and harbour scenes.
