Lievin De Winne (1821–1880) - Portrait of a young man

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

Portrait of young man

Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
66 x 55 cm

Lievin De Winne was born on January 24, 1821, in Ghent. Then aged 14, he lost his father. He was then taken in by Félix de Vigne (1806-1861), painter and student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where he soon entered the teaching of his second master and director of the premises: Hendrik Van der Haert (1790-1846).
From 1850 to 1854, he worked in Paris thanks to the granting of a scholarship by 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 sending his first paintings to the Paris Salon. He then painted large biblical compositions, which met with little success, but also a few portraits which were able to attract critical interest. Returning to Ghent in 1855, he went to visit the main museums in Holland and studied Hals and Rembrandt to improve his skills. His perseverance was crowned with success and commissions. Thus, De Winne quickly became the official portrait painter of the court of Belgium and Leopold I personally called on his services as did all the great ones of the kingdom.
Belgian critics recognized 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 fixed for us, not only the traits 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 Camille Lemonnier (1844-1913) calls: “The master of the portrait painters of his time”. The same critic adds: “We recognized in him the blood of the lineage of the old masters of Flanders: he had faithfully kept the beautiful flow and the bold execution. Van Dyck finds himself in the silver 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 attitudes with science and naturalness... This fine artist possessed the secret of making an excellent portrait at little cost, barely covering his canvas at times, impastoing only the secondary parts and leaving the flesh, the face, to the moral person the essential accent which rested on it like the palpitation of life. »
According to Paul Colin (1890-1943): “The transparent color, the sobriety of the means, the calligraphic purity of the drawing, he lacks nothing, and he also has this faculty of analysis without which the portrait painter has no scale… Thanks to it (also), we will classify L. De Winne 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 May 13, 1880.

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