In 1864, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp where he received tuition from Nicaise de Keyser.

He proved to be gifted in painting from life, and achieved the prize of excellence in 1865, which allowed him to obtain a private studio in the Academy the following year.

The painting "Les premières nouvelles du désastre de la Grande Russie", exhibited at the Artistic Circle of Antwerp in 1872, is an example of this success.

In response to the academic tastes of his time, he liked to paint farm animals and, more generally, the charms of rural life.

At around this period, Évariste Carpentier befriended some of his classmates from the Academy, including Emile Claus, Theodoor Verstraete, Frans Hens and Jan Van Beers.

Having always had a predilection for dramatic episodes, Carpentier refined his composition skills in the search of better ways to depict the pathetic character of minor historical facts, such as those in "Chouans en déroute" (1883) and "Madame Roland à la prison Sainte-Pélagie" (1886).

After discovering the works of Jules Bastien-Lepage, he began to dedicate himself to "plein air" painting, turning to nature through the Realism movement.

His initial outdoor paintings, which had been produced with darker, thicker strokes, gave way to a noticeably brighter palette and progressively lighter brushstrokes.

[4] In 1890, the young couple moved to Belgian Brabant, at Overijse, where Carpentier painted "Washing Turnips", an important work that earned the artist a medal in Paris, and which was acquired by the MAMAC in Liège.

During this period, the artist flourished and sought to find the truth of nature, according to his impressionist vision, parallel to that of his friend Emile Claus.

In January 1897, Carpentier applied for the position of professor of painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Liège, which had been vacant since the death of Émile Delperée.

Other Liège artists that passed through his class were Fernand Steven, Robert Crommelynck, Adrien Dupagne, Marcel Caron, Jean Donnay and Auguste Mambour.

During World War I, Carpentier witnessed the German Rape of Belgium and depicted the execution of Belgian civilians in his work L'exécution des notables de Blégny, 1914.

Throughout his career, he won many prizes and awards at international exhibitions, both in Europe and in the United States, receiving the golden medals at Antwerp, Munich and Berlin for "Summer sun" (1896), Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Nice.