Les collectionneurs d'art, Oil on panel by Léon BRUNIN (1861 - 1949)

Léon Brunin's subjects are always meticulously painted, with abundant reproduction of detail and as many shades of color and lighting effects as possible.

Léon Brunin (1861 -1949), also known as Léon de Meuter, was a Belgian painter and engraver.

Brunin was born in Antwerp, where he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He studied first with sculptor Frans Joris, then with painters Polydore Beaufaux and Charles Verlat. He was awarded a 3rd class medal at the Salon des artistes français in 1892.

In 1883, Léon became one of the founders of the artistic circle als ik kan ("if I can"). From 1886, he befriended Dutch artists Matthijs Maris, Jacob Maris, Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Italian painter Giovanni Segantini. From 1886, he taught at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Brunin took part in exhibitions and auctions in Belgium, France, Germany and the United States. One of his pupils was Servais Detilleux, to whom we owe a Portrait of Madame Léon Brunin dating from 1929.

In contrast to his early works, such as the self-portrait Artist in his studio, Brunin later developed a more conservative style, inspired mainly by Rembrandt and Henri de Braekeleer.

Léon Brunin was appointed Officer of the Order of the Crown and Knight of the Order of Leopold. He died in 1949 and is buried in the Antwerpen Schoonselhof communal cemetery.

Most of his paintings are in private collections. Some can be seen in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Museum of Painting and Sculpture in Kortrijk and the Museum of Fine Arts in Tournai.