Lievin DE WINNE
 (Ghent, 1821 – Brussels, 1880)

 Portrait of a young man

 Oil on canvas
 Signed lower right
 66 x 55 cm

 Lievin De Winne was born on 24 January 1821 in Ghent. At the age of 14, he lost his father. He was then taken in by Félix de Vigne (1806-1861), a painter and student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where he soon entered the teaching of his second master and director of the establishment: Hendrik Van der Haert (1790-1846).
 From 1850 to 1854, he worked in Paris thanks to a grant from the Belgian government. Sharing his studio with his friend Jules Breton (1827-1906) from 1852, the latter encouraged him to work on the art of portraiture. In 1853, he began to send his first paintings to the Paris Salon. He then painted large biblical compositions, which were not very successful, but also a few portraits that attracted the interest of critics. Back in Ghent in 1855, he then went to visit the main museums in Holland and studied Hals and Rembrandt in particular to improve his skills. His perseverance was crowned with success and commissions. Thus De Winne quickly became the official portrait painter of the Belgian court and Leopold I personally called upon his services as did all the nobles of the kingdom.
 Belgian critics were able to recognize his great talent in his discipline, following the example of Gustave Vanzype (1869-1955) who said of his art: "De Winne was certainly a sincere artist. Was he a faithful portraitist? He was better. He captured for us, not only the features of a certain number of characters, but the moral atmosphere of an era, as he experienced it. It is this evocation that makes his work fascinating."
 Paul de Vigne (1843-1901) executed the bust of the man whom Camille Lemonnier (1844-1913) calls: "The master of portrait painters of his time". The same critic adds: "One recognized in him the blood of the lineage of the old masters of Flanders: he had faithfully preserved the beautiful flow and the rich execution. Van Dyck is found in the silvery tones of his last manner; following his example, he took extreme care of the hands of his characters and gave them a physiognomy; he also combined with science and naturalness the attitudes... This fine artist possessed the secret of making an excellent portrait at little cost, barely covering his canvas at times, by impastoing only the secondary parts and leaving to the flesh, the figure, the moral person the essential accent which spread over it like the palpitation of life."
 According to Paul Colin (1890-1943): "Transparent color, sobriety of means, calligraphic purity of drawing, he lacks nothing, and he also has this faculty of analysis without which the portraitist has no scope... Thanks to it (also), L. De Winne will be classified among the initiators of the great liberation movement which animated our painting around 1870 because he was one of those who saved realism from the servile imitation of nature."
 De Winne settled permanently in Brussels in 1861. He died there almost twenty years later on 13 May 1880.

 Museums : Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Lille…