Rik Wouters was trained as a sculptor and a self-taught painter. His great example was the French painter Paul Cézanne. Wouters painted in bright, often sunny colours using a technique that is reminiscent of watercolour. He applied the paint in very thin layers, leaving bits of the canvas unpainted, and this gave the painting a special light effect. His favourite model was his wife Nel. After the fall of Antwerp at the start of WWI, Wouters was interned in the Netherlands as a soldier. He became incurably ill in 1915 and was allowed to go free. He went to live in Amsterdam together with his wife. While there he painted Seated Woman at the Window. The dark colours and serene atmosphere are typical of Wouters’ later work.