Jacob Neefs or Jacob NeeffsAlternate spellings of surname: Neeffs and alternative first names: Jakob, Jacques and Jacobus (1610 in Antwerp – after 1660 in Antwerp) was a Flemish etcher, engraver and publisher. He worked on publication projects for prominent Flemish artists of his time including Rubens, van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens.
Life Jacob Neefs was a pupil of Lucas Vorsterman the Elder. In 1632-3 he was admitted as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp. In March 1632 he became a member of the 'Sodaliteit van de Bejaerde Jongmans', a fraternity for bachelors established by the Jesuit order. He married Anne Antonissen on 5 February 1655. He is last mentioned in the registers of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1661. at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
His pupils included Jacques vande Velde (1644–45) and Emanuel Winghen.
Work
Neefs worked as an engraver for the leading Flemish painters of his age. In Rubens' studio he belonged to the 'new generation' of engravers with the likes of Hans Witdoeck. He was one of the last to work under Rubens himself.Christian Coppens. "Neeffs, Jacob." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 16 Nov. 2013
He worked on the Iconography of Anthony van DyckHind, Arthur M., Van Dyck, his original etchings and his iconography, Houghton Mifflin company, Boston and New York, 1915 and completed some of the portraits for the later editions of the Iconography by adding a sculptural bust and pedestal."Title page of the Iconography with self-Portrait of Anthony van Dyck It is unknown whether or not this was van Dyck's intention."Self-Portrait of Anthony van Dyck from the Iconography
Other prominent painters for whom or after whom he made engravings include Jacob Jordaens, Abraham van Diepenbeeck,Linguae vitia et remedia – Jacob Neefs made, jointly with Andries Pauwels, the engravings based on designs of Abraham van Diepenbeeck for the first edition of the emblem book, published by Joannes Cnobbaert in Antwerp in 1631. Gerard Seghers,Salome with the head of St John the Baptist. Philip Fruytiers, Annibale Carracci and Theodoor van Thulden.
He collaborated on various printing projects with the leading engravers of his time including Mattheus Borrekens, Cornelis Galle the Younger, Wenceslaus Hollar, Pieter de Jode II, Theodoor van Merlen, Michel Natalis and Paulus Pontius. Between 1635 and 1659 Jacob Neeffs illustrated about 10 books, mainly published in Antwerp and Leuven.
His works are mainly executed with the burin.Carrington, Fitz Roy, Catalogue of engravings and etchings presented by George A. Hearn to the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, New York, 1897, p. 19 He also gained a reputation for his drawings which demonstrate a steadiness of hand.Biographical details in Nagler, Georg Kaspar, Neues allgemeines Künstler-Lexicon: oder Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken der Maler, Bildhauer, Baumeister, Kupferstecher etc, Volume 10, Munchen, 1841, p.164
References
Bibliography BASAN F. e.a, Dictionnaire des graveurs anciens et modernes depuis l'origine de la gravure. Avec une notice des principales estampes qu'ils ont gravées; suivi des catalogues des oeuvres de Jacques Jordans & de Corneille Visscher, vol. 2, De Lormel, Parijs, 1767, p. 60 DELEN A., Tentoonstelling van teekeningen en prenten van Antwerpsche meesters der XVIIe eeuw (Rubens en zijn tijd) [tentoonstellingscatalogus], Antwerpen augustus 1927 – September 1927, Stad Antwerpen, 1927 HOLLSTEIN F.W.H., Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, c. 1450–1700, Amsterdam, 1949 VAN DEN WIJNGAERT F., Inventaris der Rubeniaansche prentkunst, Uitgeverij de sikkel, Antwerpen, 1940, p. 17
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