He is mentioned several times in the archives of Leuven between 1457 and
his death, although his name is sometimes confused with that of Hubrecht
Steurbout, another painter in Leuven. In 1468 Bouts was named official
painter to the city. A century later the chronicler in Leuven, Joannes
Molanus, remarked that he ‘excelled as an innovator in depicting the
countryside’. Bouts was also described, by van Mander ([1603]–1604), as
a founder of the Haarlem school of painting along with Albert van
Ouwater and Geertgen tot Sint Jans. However, it is his representation of
landscape that is still recognized as his principal contribution to
15th-century Netherlandish painting.
