He was trained in drawing by his father Ferdinand de Braekeleer, a well-known genre painter, and his uncle Jan August Hendrik Leys.

Although he remained a student there until 1861, he publicly exhibited his paintings for the first time in 1858, when Reaper and Washerwoman (locations unknown) were shown at the Antwerp Salon.

The influence of Johannes Vermeer was especially important, seen in one of de Braekeleer's most characteristic subjects: a single person absorbed in a quiet activity, shown in an interior lit by a window.

The two events combined to create the most productive period in de Braekeleer's career, when he made the works for which he is best known and received public recognition for them.

Vincent van Gogh mentioned de Braekeleer in letters to his brother Theo several times, referring to him as an artist he liked as well as one afflicted by mental illness.