This gouache is a preliminary study for the painting Les trois soeurs, 1952 (coll. Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart) one of the compositions of Léger's final years. The artist returned to the theme of three women which he treated in previous decades, for example, in Composition aux trois femmes, 1927 (G. Bauquier, Fernand Léger Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1993, no. 531; coll. Musée d'Art Moderne, Saint-Etienne). The young boy playing an accordion was probably derived from an adult musician seen in studies for La Grande Parade, 1954 (coll. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York). In the later and final versions of Les trois soeurs the artist changed the background color to blue.