Pierre Soulages always refused to establish a hierarchy among the different techniques he employed. In addition to paintings on canvas, he also produced a substantial number of paintings on paper, continuing to work in this medium – with occasional interruptions on his pictorial journey – until the early 2000s. It can be said that his work on paper began as early as 1946, with paintings with wide and pronounced brushstrokes produced with walnut stain that truly distinguish his work from other abstract approaches of the time.

Favouring walnut stain in his early years, Pierre Soulages would often return to this material used by cabinetmakers, appreciating its qualities of transparency, opacity, brightness and contrast with the white of paper. For these works with generally restricted formats, he would also use gouache and ink, the latest being notably used for Encre sur papier 65 x 50 cm, 1955 (1955), lent by the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art.