The active painting career of Ben Oude Breuil actually started only at the age of 30. Until then, Oude Breuil sketched and etched. In 1996 he received the Talens award for the East Netherlands, followed by an exhibition in Utrecht. The first solo exhibition was in 1999 in museum huize keizer where large canvases of 1.50 x 1.50 metre were exhibited. This exhibition "een andere kijk op Twente" could be admired in a number of cities. After a heart attack in 2003, the artist started making smaller work, resulting in an invitation to exhibit in Gallery Lijn 3 of Anthonia van Rappard. The work of Oude Breuil can be seen in the Oranjemuseum in Diepenheim, among others.