NEYTS, Gillis
Gillis (Aegidius) Neyts, Flemish painter, draughtsman and engraver. He was a landscape artist who is now mainly known for his Italianising and topographical drawings of sites throughout the Southern Netherlands. His subjects are either imaginary, idealised panoramas or topographical views of towns and villages. He created several etchings, sometimes after his drawings,
He was possibly a pupil of Lucas van Uden, however, there is no documentary evidence for this. In 1647 he was registered in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp as a master painter and engraver. In 1650 he spent some time in Dordrecht.
From 1662 he is known to have been active in the Meuse valley around Namur and Huy where he made many studies of the landscapes. In 1665 he is registered as a poorter of Namur. He enjoyed the patronage of the local monasteries. He collaborated with Jacques Nicolai (1605-1678) who painted the figures in 18 landscapes commissioned by the convent of Croisiers in Namur.
Around 1680, he returned to Antwerp where he died in 1687.
