Bursting with action, the present work was created following the artist’s move from crowded New York City to the open expanses of New Mexico in 1957, the same year that she separated from fellow artist, Willem de Kooning. This move and period would greatly inspire de Kooning’s artistic production, allowing her to experiment with new imagery and colors. As noted by the artist on her time spent in the American Southwest, “I went to Juárez to see the bullfights, which immediately struck me as a heightened image of Southwestern landscape – the panorama of the arena, the heraldic colors…”