Spanish painter María Blanchard completed her studies in Paris, where she settled permanently in 1916. Between then and 1920, she developed a Cubist style in which figurative references never entirely disappeared. Childhood, solitude, sadness, and illness are recurring themes throughout her work, reflecting her own life and personal experience.

La couturière (1924) belonged to her art dealer, Jean Delgouffre, and depicts his daughter, Nicole, whom Blanchard also portrayed in La gourmande (Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, inv. no. AMVP 368).