Lernout Ward
Ward Lernout was a Belgian painter born in Geluwe in 1931 and passed away in 2019. He learned to draw from his father Kamiel Lernout and took painting classes at the Municipal Academy of Fine Arts of Menen (painters F. Wallecan and E. Van Overberghe). At the age of 23, Lernout left for the Belgian Congo, from 1954 to 1960, where he worked as a civil servant. He continued to paint there as well. After his return from Congo, he tried to work as an independent painter, but he could not sustain that financially. That's why he felt inclined to take a job in the advertising world. Later Lernout moved to Tervuren as he was able to work for a publishing house in Brussels. From 1970 on, Lernout finally dared to come out with his paintings. Lernout mainly painted landscapes, rural scenes, interiors, still lifes, nudes and portraits. In 1988 he won the Prize of the Public at the Cercle Gaulois in Brussels. In 1999 he was included in the portfolio “Lithographies of 10 contemporary Flemish artists” of Flemish Art. Twelve years later, Lernout won the Maurits Wijnants municipal culture prize in Tervuren. (HLN, 24-12-2019)