Cornelis Terlouw (1890-1948), otherwise known as Kees Terlouw, was born in Rotterdam in Holland. Terlouw began his artistic career in his hometown before moving to Utrecht and then The Hague. In 1926 Terlouw moved to Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris in France, where he lived and worked the rest of his life. Inspired by the Dutch masters, Turlouw excelled in interior and genre scenes, painted in a naturalistic Dutch style, with many of his sitters depicted in traditional Dutch clothing and decors. Turlouw was a master of painting light in the impressionistic style, influenced by the French landscapes of Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet, he applied paint in thick daubs, the colours often mixed directly onto the canvas. Turlow was equally skilled in capturing an interior scene such as the present work, with light glistening through the window illuminating the central figure or a peaceful Frnech landscape or seaside estuary. His stunning compositions combine his Dutch heritage with the French influences of Impressionism and mark him out as one of the great artists of the twentieth century.