John Armstrong was an Official War Artist during the Second World War and this painting was one of a series entitled Debris and Demolition. It is painted in tempera, a water-based medium which dries to a delicate finish. Armstrong was impressed by the Surrealist artists Magritte and Dali, who blurred the distinctions between dream and reality by painting illogical scenes with photographic precision. Armstrong's work became increasingly Surrealist in character, but in a restrained manner, without the unnerving contrasts that were typical of the style.