Ost Leon

Leon Ost is a Belgian artist, born in Antwerp in 1939. He is a painter, watercolorist and etcher. He grew up in the Schipperskwartier. He trained at the Academy in Antwerp under the guidance of Jules Van Ael and Remy Cornelissen. He then studied painting at the Academy in Wilrijk for five years. He got to know the sea and the water well as a tugboat captain and passionate sailor. He mainly paints marines in a classical design. He shows the sea as he experienced it: a mighty element, a tangible mass, sometimes calm, other times with surging waves in which ships threaten to sink. He finds his inspiration not only in Antwerp, with the Scheldt and the North Sea, but also in Normandy and Brittany (France). The artist: “Beautiful, that atmosphere there in the fishing ports and marinas, the unique colors too. And our own port of course. Sometimes everything blends together. I see the Westhinder in the docks and I move it to the high seas.” From the press: “In his pure marine images, Leon Ost shows a varied touch, coupled with an accentuated expression of strong inner turmoil. For the artist, the event lies in the tearing open of mist and fog when the sun rises on the water's edge. Occasionally he also looks for inspiration in Greek mythology.” Leon Ost took part in the annual Watercolor Salon in the studio of Luc De Backer in Antwerp in 1999. He is co-founder of the non-profit organization The Belgian Marine Painters. In 2022, a joint exhibition by the two friends Leon Ost and Dirk Boumans (deceased in 2021) was held at Cepa on the Eilandje in Antwerp. (Piron, BT)