Vlaminck was born in Paris of ‘bohemian’ musical parents in 1876 and he in turn became an accomplished musician. It was only in 1900, when he met the painter André Derain, that he started to take art seriously.

Vlaminck was much influenced by the Post-Impressionists, particularly by a major Van Gogh exhibition he saw in Paris in 1901. Four years later he exhibited at the Salon d’Automne with a group of artists, including Derain, Matisse, Rouault and Marquet, who were collectively and ironically dubbed the Cage aux Fauves (Cage of Wild Beasts) because of their use of strong, vibrant, pure colours applied in an expressionistic and non-naturalistic way.

Vlaminck's typical subject matter became rural landscapes, often with overcast skies or storm scenes, lonely village streets or cottages and still-lifes.