From 1842 to 1850, he studied at the
Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp), under
Gustave Wappers and
Nicaise De Keyser, where he became an outstanding
colorist. In 1852 he won the
Prix de Rome (Belgium) for his painting
Coriolanus at Rome and was able to spend four years studying in Italy. From 1862 to 1872, he was the Professor of History Painting at the
Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School.
Leon Pohle,
Max Liebermann and
Carl Rodeck were among his students there. This period was especially productive for him and he completed seven large wall panels at the
Wartburg, depicting the life of
Martin Luther. After a short stay in Belgium, he returned to Germany, where he became a professor at the
Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. His students there included
Ludwig von Hofmann,
Osmar Schindler,
Paul Thumann and
Oskar Zwintscher. During this period he also executed six large historical wall panels at the
Fürstenschule in
Meissen. From 1870 to 1881, he produced what was considered his greatest work: twelve frescoes in the upper part of the
Ypres Cloth Hall, which had been left incomplete by
Charles de Groux. They depicted scenes of Ypres' history from 1187 to 1383. Unfortunately, these works (and most of the Cloth Hall) were destroyed during World War I. In 2000, the city of Ypres acquired six paintings by Pauwels for their Municipal Art Museum at a cost of 3,250,000
Belgian Francs (approximately 80,565
Euros) In 1930, Ekeren named a street in his honor and installed a memorial stone. ==References==