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The artist created a number of superb portraits while he was living and working in Prague. The painting dates to his period of artistic maturity, which is characterized by the use of brushwork, color and light that corresponded to his Impressionist vision. The girl, with her elbow on an armrest and leaning her head against her hand, is illuminated with golden tones that are reflected in the richly decorated frame in the background. However, the focus is fully on the foreground, the girl's attractive face, painted in vivid colors with a sense of lightness, gazing into the distance while also seeming to peer into herself. After a rough start in the United States, Croatian painter Vlaho Bukovac came to Paris in 1877 to study under Alexandre Cabanel at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. There he quickly became acquainted with two Czech colleagues, Václav Brožík and Vojtěch Hynais, and formed lasting friendships with them. He was soon a success at the Salón, the most important international art platform that guaranteed success or condemnation. In 1903 he came to Prague for a one-year contract that went on to be extended to a long-term engagement. He eventually started mixing colors himself, and in his mature years he achieved highly original gradations of mauve, orange and red. By strengthening his pointillist brush technique and achieving distinctive harmonies of color, by the turn of the century he had become a master artist whose works were highly valued. The painting is listed in the catalogue raisonné under the title "Djevojka na jastuku (Počinak)" and number 813 in the monograph by Vera Kružyć-Uchytil: Vlaho Bukovac – Život i djelo, Zagreb, 2005.