Jean Boedts studied in Liège, Paris and Florence. Thereafter he was employed at the court of King Leopold III of Belgium. In 1932 he was awarded the Prix de Rome. Since he could not make use of the corresponding scholarship before World War II, Boedts went to the colony of the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) for six years in 1954, where he painted mostly murals. Subsequently, he worked another year in South Africa. Back in Belgium, Boedts created portraits and busts, frequently desinging works with religious themes as well.