Gillis NeytsorAegidius Neyts[1](1618 or 1623–1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and engraver. He was alandscape artistwho is now mainly known for his italianising and topographical drawings of sites throughout theSouthern Netherlands.He was a less prolific painter of landscapes and also produced a number of landscape prints. He further left a great number of figure studies.
Life
editThe location and date of his birth are not known with certainty. It is likely that he was born inGhentwhere he was baptized on 4 May 1623. However, there is also a record inNamurdated 10 June 1665, in which he is listed as a native ofOverijse.An album with drawings mentions him as a native ofLille.[2]
It is not clear with whom he trained. Some scholars mention as a possible teacher theAntwerppainter, draftsman and printmakerLucas van Udensince some of Neyts' landscape paintings reflect van Uden's style.[3]However, there is no evidence for this presumed pupilage. In 1643 he was living in Antwerp where he married Clara de la Porte. The couple had two daughters and a son. In 1647 he was registered in theGuild of Saint Lukein Antwerp as a master painter and engraver. In 1650 he spent some time inDortrecht.[2]In the year 1653 he may have made a trip to Spain as it is known he made plans to do so.[4]
From 1662 he is known to have been active in theMeusevalley around Namur andHuywhere he made many studies of the landscapes. In 1665 he is registered as apoorterof Namur. He enjoyed the patronage of the local monasteries.[2]He collaborated with Jacques Nicolaï who painted the figures in 18 landscapes commissioned by the Church of the convent of Croisiers in Namur.[5]He travelled widely throughout the Meuse region and portrayed its cities, steep-banked valleys, imposing castles, ruins, rivers and luxuriant forests.[4]He probably worked inLillein the late 1670s. On the basis of a drawing of Antwerp, he is believed to have returned to Antwerp around 1680. He remained there until his death around 1687, the year in which the register of the Guild of Saint Luke mentions the payment of his death debt.[2]He was buried in theAntwerp Cathedral.[3]
Work
editGeneral
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While in his early career Gillis Neyts produced some religious and mythological paintings, the vast majority of his later output was as a landscape artist.[6]His subjects are either imaginary, idealised panoramas or topographical views of towns and villages. He often placed figures in his landscapes to animate the foreground or the composition.[7]Even his works on religious themes were landscapes with small devotional figures included.[3]Many of his figure studies have been preserved. He also produced a number of harbour views with ships.[8]
Neyts was able to develop his landscapes with infinite variation in both technique and scale.[7]The paintings and drawings are characterized by the high quality of their execution and a constant desire to translate the peaceful atmosphere of the regions he visited.[4]A large portion of his output consists of drawings and to a lesser extent paintings. He madeprintversions of some of his works.[9]
Drawings
editA great number of his landscape and figure drawings have been preserved and are in the collections of theBritish Museum,theLouvre,theFrits Lugt Collectionin Paris, theRoyal Collectionand theRijksmuseum.[3][9][10]
Many of the drawings are signed or part of drawing albums. A majority of these drawings are small and executed in brown or black ink with a fine nib. Some of the drawings are onvellum.[9]Neyts was, along withJan Siberechtsand Lucas van Uden, one of the most accomplished artists in the use of both watercolours and bodycolours in his drawings,.[7]His penwork is delicate and characterized by the use of numerous dots and short strokes of the pen, sometimes accompanied by long sinuous meandering lines. Occasionally Neyts added grey wash or watercolour.[9]
Some of the imaginary scenes incorporate distant views of the church spires of Antwerp.Wenceslaus Hollarand the calligraphic style ofJacques Callotwere probably influences on his landscape drawings. He is likely to have known these artist's prints rather than their drawings.[9]
Paintings
editHis paintings also depicted imaginary and, less often, real views. They are typically in the blue-green tones characteristic of his Flemish contemporaries such as Lucas van Uden andGillis Peeters.The compositions are derived from his drawings and his distinctive drawing style is duplicated in his handling of trees and figures.[9]
Printmaking
editNeyts created severaletchings,sometimes after his drawings, while other artists used his designs for their own prints. Neyts' prints display the same personal style as his drawings.[9]
Notes
edit- ^Alternative spellings of name: Gilles Neyts, Gillis Neijts, Gillis Nijts
- ^abcdGillis Neytsat theNetherlands Institute for Art History(in Dutch)
- ^abcdGillis Neytsat theFine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- ^abcGillis Neyts, a landscape painter from Brabant in the Meuse valley in the 17th centuryArchived4 March 2016 at theWayback Machineat codart
- ^Gillis Neyts,Landscape with a view of a castle near NamurArchived8 March 2016 at theWayback Machineat Galerie Jan de Maere
- ^Gillis Neytsat Christie’s
- ^abcGillis Neyts,River landscape with a town in the distanceat Thomas Williams Fine Art
- ^Gillis Neyts,Landscape with three peasants and a churchat the British Museum
- ^abcdefgGeorge Gordon. "Neyts, Gillis." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 5 April 2015
- ^Gillis Neytsat the British Museum
External links
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Media related toGillis Neytsat Wikimedia Commons
