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In 1886 Cézanne's financial problems came to an end as a result of the substantial inheritance which he received on the death of his father. This study of a copse of trees was probably painted at the Jas de Bouffan, an estate outside Aix-en-Provence where he frequently stayed to look after his mother. The criss-crossed broken brushwork, delicate colour contrasts and balance between surface and spatial effects are typical of Cézanne's work of the later 1880s. Towards the end of his life he observed: 'Lines parallel to the horizon give breadth... But nature for us men is more depth than surface, whence the need to introduce into our light vibrations, represented by the reds and yellows, a sufficient amount of blueness to give the feel of air'. Gwendoline Davies purchased this work in Paris in 1918.