In the early 1880s, Carl Larsson produced several large-scale watercolours of rural scenes, in which he explored the principles of plein air painting. The depicted scenes are all set in the garden of the guesthouse Pension Laurent. The watercolour’s distinctive vertical format and the river’s subtle reflections in the foreground clearly show the influence of Japanese art. The muted colours and the melancholic tranquillity of the composition are characteristic of the so-called Grez style.