The fluidity of Matisse’s use of ink is on full display here, as he carefully depicted the texture of the model’s hair as well as the details of her necklace and bracelet but used spare lines to represent her clothing. This composition was created when he had taken a three-year hiatus from producing easel paintings and was working hard on his first illustrated book, "Poems," by Stéphane Mallarmé. A notation on the sheet indicates this may have been created as part of the book project, although the figure seen here is not clearly related to any of the final images in the publication.