Josef Leempoels
1867-1935

Jef Leempoels was born in Brussels in 1867. He was a student of Portaels and Stallaert; He studied at the Acédemie Royale des Beaux Arts in Brussels.

Leempols exhibited at Féderation Nationale des Artistes Belgique beginning in 1897.

Leempoels won considerable recognition in the French art world, in Paris he won an honorable mention in 1893, and a silver medal at l’Exposition Universalle in 1900.

He won a gold medal in Anvers in 1894, and a gold medal in the United States, in Saint Louis in 1903.  He won medals in Vienna, Buenos Aires, and was awarded Chevelier de l’Ordre de Léopold, and Chevelier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Leempoels was a member of the Société des Beaux-Arts de Paris, and a correspondent of the Academy of Fine Arts of Milan.

Leempols paintings are academic in their execution; they exhibit a realism that is astonishing.  He painted portraits and scenes of social realism, whether of the upper classes or the working class, his insight into his subjects was always evident.