Gillis van Hulsdonck

Gillis van Hulsdonck or Gillis Jacobsz. van Hulsdonck (1625, in Antwerp – between 1676 and 1696, in Antwerp) was a Flemish still life painter. After training in Antwerp, he spent most of his active career in Amsterdam. He is known for his still lifes of fruit and banquet pieces.

Life Gillis van Hulsdonck was born in Antwerp as the son of Jacob van Hulsdonck and his first wife Maria la Hoes. Gillis trained with his father in his workshop. It is recorded that after his father died in early 1647, on 12 February of that year two guardians were appointed over the then already 21-year old Gillis. There is no record of Gillis joining the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke. He is believed to have moved to Amsterdam some time after his father's death. This is the last record about the artist. It is not known where and when he died. It was likely in Antwerp and no later than 1696.

His later works are more reflective of the Dutch school of still life painting of his time, in particular Willem Kalf. However, in comparison to Kalf's paintings van Hulsdonck's brush stroke is soft and this gives all depicted objects an almost velvety surface. This softness of the objects is also enhanced by the painter's use of light and shadow, which is characterized by creamy reflections and softly flowing drop shadows. This gives his paintings an intimist quality.

Stylistically his work also shows the influence of the Dutch painter Simon Luttichuys . The theme of a lobster on a pewter plate, for example, appears in several paintings signed by or attributed to Luttichuys.