[1] De Beijer travelled through the Netherlands in summertime to draw views of cities and towns as well as castles and other buildings.

[1][2][3] Drawings by Jan de Beijer and engravings based on his work can be found in numerous museums, archives, and private collections.

[1][5] Around 1722 he moved to Amsterdam to study with Cornelis Pronk, who was considered the most important topographical draughtsman of his time.

Sometime after 1750 he returned to Amsterdam, where he received further instruction from Jan Maurits Quinkhard who, like Pronk, had been a pupil of Arnold Boonen.

He was active as an artist until 1769 and then retired to a small town near Kleve on the Dutch-German border, where he died.