Achilles De Maertelaere was certainly a (gifted) portraitist. Apparently he liked to paint them (women, but also men and children).
On the other hand, it is also true that making portraits, especially those that were clearly intended for the bourgeoisie, brought "money in the pocket". The oldest portrait seems to date from 1901. Achilles De Maertelaere was then 19 years old. His last portraits date from the 1950s.
At the end of World War II, Achilles De Maertelaere painted a series of portraits of soldiers who presumably landed here with the Allies, as well as of their wives or parents. This last series of portraits comes at a time when his sister, with whom he has lived for years, is still in the dark about the fate of her husband and one of her sons. Both die in Germany. Léon Janssens, her husband, died in the disaster of Cap Arcona in the bay of Lübeck; her son did not survive the German camps and died in the American military hospital of Hummelsheim in Germany. Presumably Achilles De Maertelaere painted a lot at the time to provide some income.
This portrait of a woman is probably the first work of this kind to be painted by Achilles De Maertelaere. It dates from 1901. Achilles De Maertelaere was only 19 years old.
These two portraits of a smiling woman, although dated in two different years, is clearly part of one inspiration. One of the portraits (1927, left) is still in the hands of a Belgian family, the other (1926, right) was found at an auction in France, albeit under the name De Maertelaere Edmond.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator