This is an important work in Tanguy's oeuvre, marking a shift from the spacious 'underwater landscapes' of the late 1920s to a world packed with intricately-drawn, bean-like forms. These shapes sit like a sculpted frieze at the bottom of the painting. Tanguy's works of the 1930s, in which weird objects cast long, hard shadows, suggest desert or Martian landscapes. The strange geological features Tanguy saw on a trip to Africa in 1930 may have influenced this change in direction. His friendship with sculptors such as Giacometti and Arp may also be relevant.