Huntington was very fond of Spain and spent a lot of time there. A Muleteer from Andalucía reflects this interest, that she shared with her husband, the artist William Macdonald. This painting comes from a series of works that reveal an awareness of Cubism, possible through first-hand knowledge as her early training was in Paris. The geometric rendering of the sitter’s face and the painting’s overall austerity of design, seen in the plain background and flattened depiction of the hat and jacket, illustrate Huntington’s declaration that '‘simplification' is not omitting, like so much stuff which is shown – it is containing and realising the bigness of it all – and that comes with knowledge and hard work’.