While Matisse is known for working with female models for most of his career, his etchings from 1914 to 1915 are remarkable for the inclusion of numerous depictions of men from his inner circle. According to the title given by the artist, Matisse created this portrait of printmaker Charles Bourgeat (1878–1945) while thinking about his childhood friend, Léon Vassaux, thus combining a figure from the present with another from the past. Matisse had initially planned to sell a selection of these etchings to raise money for those affected by World War I (1914–1918) in his hometown of Bohain-en-Vermondois in northern France, which had been occupied by the German army, but this fundraising effort was later abandoned.