Charles Mertens was born in 1865 in Antwerp and died in the UK in 1919.  He was a realistic painter, draftsman and etcher of figures, genre scenes, navies and portraits. Illustrator and decorator. He followed his education at the Academy of Antwerp (Charles Verlat), where he became a teacher (1886). He initially painted small genre scenes in the atmosphere of Henri De Braekeleer. From 1887 there was a change in his colorite and style: his works were larger, looser painted, less elaborated and more attention was paid to the lighting.