Constant Permeke (July 31, 1886 – January 4, 1952) was a Belgian painter and sculptor who is considered the leading figure of Flemish expressionism.

Permeke was born in Antwerp but when he was six years old the family moved to Ostend, where his father became curator of the Municipal Museum of Arts. Permeke went to school in Bruges from 1903 until 1906, when he was drafted into the Belgian army. He served in a university company with whom he settled in Sint-Martens-Latem. After his military service ended in March 1908, Permeke returned to Ostend where he roomed together with another artist, Gustave De Smet but in 1909 he returned to Latem where he lived as a recluse. His work of this period is characterized by his heavy brush. In 1912 Permeke married Maria Delaere and the newlyweds settled in Ostend. His work from this period gains its expressive force through muted tonality and brutal forms.

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (Dutch: Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen), founded in 1810, houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries. This collection is representative of the artistic production and the taste of art enthusiasts in Antwerp, Belgium and the Northern and Southern Netherlands since the fifteenth century.


The neoclassical building housing the collection is one of the primary landmarks of the Zuid district of Antwerp, and stands in gardens bounded by the Leopold de Waalplaats, the Schildersstraat, the Plaatsnijdersstraat, and the Beeldhouwersstraat. It was completed in 1894.

Antwerp Fine Arts Museum, Fisherman's Woman, Constant Permeke (1886-1952)
Museum van Schone Kunsten, Antwerpen, Vissersvrouw