Born near Rotterdam into a middle class family, Kees Van Dongen studied art at the city's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In 1899, he moved to Paris and began working as an illustrator for anarchist newspapers. There, he met Félix Fénéon, a leading personality in this movement and art critic.

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Van Dongen exhibited alongside Matisse at the famous Salon d'Automne in 1905, which created scandal with his “cage aux fauves”, a criticism formulated by Louis Vauxcelles who signed the birth certificate of Fauvism, a painting in bright colors that was then considered outrageous.

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He lived for a time in Le Bateau-Lavoir with his wife, as neighbors of Pablo Picasso. In 1913, one of his paintings, The Spanish shawl, representing a prostitute in her nudity, caused a scandal at the Salon d'Automne.

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Van Dongen, who is believed to have an exuberant life, was seduced in 1916 by the divine Léo Jasmy. He then abandoned his wife and moved with her into a private mansion in the Bois de Boulogne, at Villa Saïd. Beauty opens the doors to the big world for him. The Dutchman excels in portraits of stage actresses, painting beautifully jewelry, fabrics and lamés. He then became a social painter.