Jozef Hoemaeker (Izegem, 11 July 1911 – Antwerp, 21 August 1980) was a Belgian painter with a modest and tranquil oeuvre, in which the human figure was central. After his education at the Sint-Amandscollege in Kortrijk, he studied at the Sint-Lucas Institute in Ghent in 1929 and 1930, followed by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he was awarded three first prizes in 1930. For ten years he was taught by the renowned painter Isidore Opsomer, who further sharpened his sense of composition and psychological depth.
In 1932, Hoemaeker received the prize from the art circle Als ick kan for a still life. He worked for some time at the Kunstwerkstede Gebroeders De Coene in Kortrijk and in the stained glass studio of Hippolyte Peene in Bruges, but ultimately opted resolutely for the artist. He settled permanently in Antwerp as a painter.
Although he also painted still lifes and empty, desolate landscapes, the emphasis in his work was always on the human figure. His paintings are sober in colour and quiet in tone — they exude a deep, tranquil seriousness. Even his landscapes show no human being or movement: they are decorless and empty, in the service of the silence that characterises his entire oeuvre.
In 1943 he narrowly missed out on the Prix de Rome, but his painting Lady with a White Blouse was purchased by the Ministry of Fine Arts. His portrait of the poet Paul De Vree is in the collection of the Letterenhuis.
Jozef Hoemaeker died in Antwerp in 1980. He left behind a coherent and personal oeuvre, in which he managed to capture an intimate and timeless world of peace and reflection as a painter.
