Willem Paerels (1878-1962) first learned in his father's workshop. At the age of 16 he left his home town of Delft and went to Brussels to study painting. To earn his living, he worked as a furniture designer.

Around 1900 he went to Paris where he grappled with the works of the Impressionists, which should affect his subsequent work sharply. Back in Brussels, he opened his own studio. In 1902 Paerels had his first exhibition and his works were now approaching rather Fauvism. He was a member of the Brabant Fauvism and in 1914 the art dealer Georges Giroux enabled him to exhibit in his gallery.

During the First World War Paerels remained in Holland where he taught young pa...