Willy Meysmans (1930–2024) trained at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp, studying figure painting under J. Creitens and ceramics under Olivier Strebelle. In 1955 he founded a ceramic studio in Antwerp together with Jan Dries, and in the following years took part in exhibitions across Europe, from Munich and Zurich to Rotterdam and Paris. In 1958, Meysmans contributed work to the Belgian pavilion at Expo 58 in Brussels, the world exhibition that placed Belgian modernism on the international stage alongside names like Jules Wabbes, Alfred Hendrickx, Willy Van Der Meeren and Jos De Mey. His presence there reflects how closely the worlds of art, architecture and design were intertwined in Belgium at that moment. Returning to Mechelen in 1960, Meysmans began designing monumental works for architectural settings, and from 1964 onward carved marble during repeated working stays in Carrara. That same year he joined the Academy of Fine Arts in Leuven as a teacher.

From 1967, bronze became central to his practice, alongside ceramics, marble and terracotta. As a sculptor, Meysmans worked primarily in metal, plaster and bronze. His figures are powerfully modelled and expressively simplified, dynamic rather than decorative, and always recognisably his own, often built around the human or animal form, with women and horses recurring as favourite themes. His ambition stayed architectural throughout: ceramics conceived for walls and furniture, sculpture conceived for public space, carrying a lifelong sense of monumentality. His best known public work is the Fiere Margriet, installed in Leuven in 1981. Meysmans' work is held in the collection of the Belgian State, the Museum of Mechelen, and the cities of Leuven, Mechelen and Kortrijk, as well as in private collections in Belgium and abroad. He died in Leuven in December 2024, at the age of 94.