Like many Impressionists, Pissarro experienced a deep artistic crisis in the mid-1880s. It led him to adopt the Neo-Impressionist color theory and brushwork of Georges Seurat, but within five years Pissarro abandoned the dotted technique as too laborious.

This canvas, one of three devoted to the subject of a woman by a stream, was executed after Pissarro returned to Impressionism. However, forced indoors by ill health, he actually painted this image in the studio, using a model and preparatory drawings.