(Antwerp 1861–1949)
“Portrait of Charles Josef De Smedt” (born Bruges, 10 August 1814), signed, dated, inscribed Leon Brunin (18)87, Antwerp, oil on panel, 70 x 58.5 cm, framed, (Rei)

Leon Brunin, baptised Leon de Meuter, is described in a contemporary book (Gustave De Graeve, nos peintres anversois, Theunis, Antwerp 1898 p. 73–78) as an energetic, boorish and virile man who lived in the Shipperskwartier in Antwerp and who had already established himself as a respected painter. Brunin entered the Academy at the age of 8 as the result of his own efforts and quickly caught the attention of his teachers. Three years later he celebrated his first success with a selection of his drawings being exhibited in the display window of local bookstore.

After a tumultuous adolescence and classes at the Academies in Mechelen and Antwerp where he met his teacher and later friend Charles Verlat, Brunin settled and discovered his own style, significantly inspired by the Dutch masters, in particular Rembrandt.
A note on the reverse of the painting identifies the sitter as “Charles Jos. De Smedt”, born in Bruges in 1814, and informs us of his courage, sacrifices and good deeds. Yet Brunin’s work avoids pomposity by depicting a humble man, whilst managing, despite the sitter’s old age, to convey the importance and high position he once had.
Brunin’s paintings were exhibited throughout Europe, in Paris, Munich and Liverpool, as well as in Chicago.