Liévin De Winne


Liévin De Winne was a Belgian portrait painter who painted the official portrait of Leopold I on which the first postage stamp of Belgium was based.
De Winne was a pupil of Félix De Vigne and Henri van der Haert at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. In 1850 he received a grant from the government of Belgium that enabled him to travel to Paris and from 1852 to 1855 he was able to share a studio with Jules Breton who subsequently wrote De Winne's biography. From 1861, De Winne resumed residency in Belgium where he established himself as a portrait painter to high society. His direct and insightful style won him many eminent clients and was a decisive break with the more romantic style of earlier Belgian portrait painting.

Selected works