He was made an associate of the National Academy of Design, New York, in 1860, and a full academician in 1861.
In 1825 he was one of the founders of the National Academy of Design, and was its first president, from 1826 until 1845.
Further educational facilities are provided by a national library with about 50,000 volumes, a national museum, with a valuable historical collection, the Cajigal Observatory, devoted to astronomical and meteorological work, and the Venezuelan Academy and National Academy of History - the first devoted to the national language and literature, and the second to its history.
Of the numerous institutions for the encouragement of the sciences and the fine arts, the following are strictly national - the Royal Academy of Sciences (1855), the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (1854), the National Academy of the Plastic Arts, the Royal School of Music, the National Archives, besides various other national collections and museums. Provincial scientific societies exist at Middelburg, Utrecht, 's Hertogenbosch and Leeuwarden, and there are private and municipal associations, institutions and collections in a large number of the smaller towns.
In 1880 he became a member of the Society of American Artists, and in 1885 was elected to full membership in the National Academy of Design, New York, and was for one term its vice-president; he became a member also of the American Water Color Society and of the Institute of Painters in Oil Colours, London.
