(b Rotterdam, 20 March 1809; d Rotterdam, 2 April 1881). Dutch painter. He was intended to succeed his father in the family cloth-dyeing business. In the evenings he attended classes with the genre painter Cornelis Bakker (1771–1849) at the Rotterdam Hierdoor tot Hoger society (‘The way to higher things’). In 1839 he decided to paint full time and continued his training with Willem Hendrik Schmidt (1809–49). Throughout his life Tavenraat travelled in order to paint, visiting Belgium, Germany (following the Rhine), Bohemia and the Tyrol. From 1842 to 1846 he lived in Antwerp working with Felix de Bovie (1812–80), a pupil of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek. He also continued his training with Eugène de Block (1812–93).