Not long beforehand, he had married his young wife Maria Alekseevna Kleschar (1915–2000), who became his muse and faithful assistant.
The present work conveys the artist’s fascination with beauty and youth, as depicted by the central seated figure, for which Samokhvalov’s wife served as a model for the central female figure (a young woman at a table in a pink blouse, studying a menu).
Portrayed on the left in a blue suit and straw hat is Samokhvalov’s friend, the artist Evgeny Kibrik, who in 1920s was a student of Pavel Filonov, as well as Samkhvalov himself, also in a straw hat and just visible over Kibrik’s shoulder.
The optimism and joy of the scene stem from the overall mood during the Thaw of the post-Stalinist period and is conveyed by Samokhvalov in the picture.
The history of this painting was described in the article by S. Ivanov, dedicated to the wife of the artist and published in 2015 to her centenary anniversary.