Eugène Laermans was a painter and illustrator and is considered a precursor of Belgian Expressionism. At the age of eleven, Laermans became deaf. This resulted in speech disorders. Despite these limitations, he attended the local drawing school at the age of twelve and transferred to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1882. From 1890, he exhibited in the salons in Brussels and took part in exhibitions of progressive artist groups. In 1898 and 1899, he exhibited at the Vienna Secession. Laermans co-founded the influential art magazine Kunst van Heden in 1905. From 1924, he was almost completely blind. In 1927, he was raised to nobility. In his works, Laermans addressed the reality of life of the urban working class and the rural population in drab colours, but without sentimentality.