Joseph Ongenae was a Belgian Modernist painter, with a passion for the geometric abstract. Ongenae was born in Antwerp in 1921.
Ongenae found his early inspiration in the works of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. His first works were of an abstract nature. In the early fifties, Ongenae moved to Amsterdam, persuaded by sculptor Andre Volten, with whom he later joins the 'Liga Nieuwe Beelden' group (1955). In Amsterdam, Ongenae was introduced to the work of Piet Mondriaan, whose paintings are a source of great inspiration for his geometrical abstract compositions.