Though largely self-taught, the artist studied in his home city of Bruges, and exhibited regularly in the Belgian Art Salons and internationally. His particular colleagues were Emile FABRY also from Belgium, and in St Ives, the photographer Herbert LANYON whose studio he employed. 

Tovey includes a section (Chap 3, 3.4) on 'The colourful and decorative watercolours of Louis Reckelbus' in his latest historical review, Sea Change, and illustrates this with coloured plates never before seen. 'These works were inspired by the intensity of colour of the Fauves, and so introduced into St Ives novel colour values, which clearly had an impact...' (Tovey p 52) He was to prove a particular inspiration to the artist Frances LLOYD.

From 1930 he was the Curator of the Fine Art museum in Bruges, and looked back on his time working in St Ives with great affection.