The period of Utrillo's oeuvre between circa 1909-1912, known as his "White Period" is regarded as the brief span of years when he executed his best work. The current work, dating from 1916, can be seen as a transitional work in which the Artist continues to use elements from this earlier technique whilst also looking forward to the more colourist style which he was to develop over the coming years. He had "..freed himself from the Impressionist influence, at the same time ignoring contemporary movements in art. Utrillo became fascinated with white buildings and tried to simulate the rough texture of their walls by mixing plaster of Paris (made in Montmartre) and gum with zinc white. Tabarant tells us that he used a range of whites, enveloping them with silky grays, delicate pinks, deep blues, or opposed them with sonorous browns and black, creating architecture geometrically precise." (G. von Groschwitz, Maurice Utrillo, exh. cat., Pittsburgh, 1963, p.11)