Gerard Portielje

He attended a trade school until 1870, then entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp.

His teachers included Polydore Beaufaux, Jozef Van Lerius and Edward Dujardin.

For some unknown reason, he did not participate in exhibitions of Belgian artists in exile that were given at Kingston upon Thames and Oxford in 1915.

Portielje specialized in genre scenes in a variety of social settings, generally filled with people who might be described as "characters".

He was commissioned to create posters and brochures for the 300th Anniversary of Anthony van Dyck's birth and designed advertisements for "Elixir d'Anvers", an herbal liqueur with purported medicinal properties.