Van Dongen had always been drawn to the fashionable resort of Deauville where many chic Parisians disported themselves in the summer months. The attraction was partly the diversions of the beach and the race-course but also the hope of portrait commission from society figures. Van Dongen's swift eye for colour and movement was well suited to the fast moving world of Deauville, "La peinture est devenu une écriture schematique, une sténographie du mouvement et des attitudes pour présenter le monde élégant des paddocks, des chevaux de courses" (L. Chaumeil, Van Dongen, Geneva, 1968, p. 208). Constant opportunities were afforded the artist to "fixer sur le papier ou sur la toile, en silhouettes presque nues, mondaines et demi-mondaines en vacances dans ce 'faubourg de Paris'." (loc. cit., p. 209).

To be included in the forthcoming Kees Van Dongen catalogue raisonné currently being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute