This painting is a good example of an early Automatiste work. Borduas did not say to himself, “I am going to paint a female torso”; he recognized the subject in an instant once the work was complete. This is one of forty-five gouaches that were shown at the Ermitage, an exhibition hall owned by the Collège de Montréal, at 3510 Côte-des-Neiges. No other exhibition space could be found for these works, which were judged to be “surrealist” and very “abstract.”