Laurencin, a woman painter, interacted with the young Picasso and other artists from all over the world who gathered, early in the twentieth century, in the Bateau-Lavoir, a group of ateliers in the Montmartre. In the 1920s, she painted many whimsical, lyrical women in her unique style, with pale colors and tender brushwork. Here two girls are standing close together, their arms crossing. The girl in the foreground is quietly reaching towards a page in the book at her side. The book is open to a page with an illustration of a bird and plant, overlapping as though echoing the two girls’ forms, and creating a dreamlike atmosphere.