In December 1883, having only just set off on the path to becoming a painter, Vincent van Gogh moved to in the village of Nuenen, to the north of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. He then developed a taste for the work of Jean François Millet and Dutch painter Jozef Israëls, one of the leading figures of The Hague school who built a successful career painting peasants and fishermen in the Netherlands. Following his example, in the winter of 1884-1885, Van Gogh created a series of head studies of peasants in Nuenen that he named Heads of the people. This woman with a green shawl is part of this ensemble which contains no less than forty canvases. The artist saw it as an exercise through which he intended to educate himself in the art of portrait painting: "I want to try to learn how to paint a head with character". Some of his other sitters are identified, but not in this case.

Rather than a realistic, descriptive portrait, Van Gogh was seeking to capture the figure's distinctive characteristics, which he exaggerated in the manner of Honoré Daumier. This painting is distinguished by its composition and perspective, breaking away from the frontal view used in most of the studies in the series. The brushwork is rapid and energetic. The sombre, earthy palette shows Van Gogh's appreciation of Millet, an artist who had a significant influence on him. A few months later, he would produce The Potato Eaters, the culmination of this body of work (Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum).