The picture formed part of the pictorial ensemble of the Pink Drawing Room in the house of Sergei Shchukin, for which Matisse produced several works in the same format, including Goldfish (1912). The artist worked on the canvas in Tangier at the Hôtel Villa de France. The combination of vivid, intense colours creates an inimitable decorative effect, and the freedom, even boldness, of the painting enhances the impression that the picture was painted "all in one go".