Dutch painter, member of a Dutch family of artists of Flemish origin. (Until about 1620 the family name was spelt as de Hondecoutre.) He was the son of Nicolaes de Hondecoutre (d. 1609) from Mechelen who is mentioned in 1585-86 as a painter in Antwerp. Gillis was a landscape and animal painter in Utrecht and Amsterdam. His son, Gijsbert de Hondecoutre was also an animal painter. Another son, Nicolaes de Hondecoeter II (1605-?c. 1671), also became a painter. //