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.

Portrait of a young girl with a coral necklace . Oil on canvas.
The first stamp of Belgium (1849), known as the Epaulettes , was based on the official portrait of King Leopold I by De Winne.