[1] He trained at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and was one of the founding members of Les XX, a group of avant-garde Belgian artists.

He was the son of Klemens Wytsman ( 1825–1870), an Austrian immigrant who was notary and shipping agent, and Emma-Maria Cockuyt (born in Ghent, c. 1838).

Among his friends were the Flemish composers François Auguste Gevaert and Peter Benoit and the French literary figure, Victor Hugo.

In 1873 Wytsman took courses at the academy in Ghent from Jean Capeinick (1838–1890), a Belgian painter who specialized in still lifes and rich, colorful floral arrangements.

Capeinick, a true professional, also taught Théo van Rysselberghe, a Belgian neo-impressionist who was influential at the turn of the century.

Wytsman's mother moved back to Brussels[clarification needed], where Rodolphe continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts.

His fellow students included Eugene Broerman, Francois Halkett, Frantz Charlet, and van Rysselberghe.

In 1882, financially supported by a friend of his late father, he visited Italy, including Rome and surrounding areas, and the Neapolitan coast made an indelible impression on him.

In Italy, he had friendly contacts with other Belgian artists then resident there: Gustave Vanaise, Jef Lambeaux, Leon Philippet, Eugene Broerman and Alexandre Marcet.

In 1883, Wytsman was a founding member of Les XX, a noted avant-garde group in Brussels, inspired by the art critic Octave Maus.

Other founders included Frantz Charlet, Jean Delvin, Darío de Regoyos, Paul Du Bois, James Ensor, Willy Finch, Fernand Khnopff and Pericles Pantazis.

Late in the 19th century Wytsman exhibited with La Libre Esthétique, a group of artists who joined after the dissolution of Les XX in 1893.

In 1903, he sent four to an "Exhibition of watercolor paintings, pastels, etchings and other" in Antwerp, including The heap, The Nut, The road to the Moors and Evening in Brabant – October.

The last years of their life together transpired quietly, and they did not become involved in the innovative European art trends that gained ascendancy in the interwar period.

Rudolphe Wystman was one of the private teachers of the German Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who was mother of King Albert I of Belgium, and who was herself an accomplished artist.