Marjorie Watson-Williams was born in Bristol, where she studied at the local art school before moving to London (1912-14) to continue her studies. In 1926 she settled in Paris where she assumed the name Paule Vézelay (she felt her own name was too old-fashioned). From 1929-32 she lived with the Surrealist artist André Masson, whose abstract, unpremeditated way of painting influenced her approach. They were engaged, but she broke off the relationship, citing his sometimes aggressive temperament. This painting, dating from 1933, seems to have autobiographical overtones, with one figure menacing the other.