Early Life and Training Paulus van der Velden (1837 – 1913), a Dutch artist of Dutch descent, was born in Rotterdam; his parents were Jacoba van Essel and Joannes van der Velden, a warehouse manager. Petrus began drawing lessons at around the age of 13 and subsequently apprenticed as a lithographer. In 1858, he founded a lithographic printing firm in Rotterdam with business partner J. G. Zijderman. He studied at the academies in Rotte…