Liévin De Winne

Liévin De Winne (Ghent, 24 January 1821 - Brussels, 13 May 1880) 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 of 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

 * Separation of Ruth and Naomi, 1853.
 * St. Francis in Ecstasy, 1854.
 * The holy women at the tomb of Christ, 1858.
 * Emile Breton in uniform of captain of the guard furniture of the Pas-de-Calais, Palace of Fine Arts, Lille.
 * Count and Countess of Flanders.
 * Leopold I, 1860, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.
 * P. Verhaegen, 1863.
 * L. Roelandt, 1864.
 * The American diplomat J.S. Sanford, 1878. Presented at the Universal Exposition in Paris.