A friend of Paul Gauguin, Schuffenecker worked in Pont-Aven with him in July 1886. In 1889 he organized the famous Café Volpini exhibition, which featured Gauguin’s lithographs, within the grounds of the Exposition Universelle. This drawing was made as an illustration for the exhibition catalogue. The subject recalls Gauguin’s Breton peasants, and the rounded corners may have been inspired by the shape of Gauguin’s lithographs.