Typical of Ruth Baumgarte’s works from 1975 on is the way in which, out of a humanistic attitude, she linked current social themes with the radiance of watercolor. In terms of both composition and the figures depicted, this work occupies a special position among her large-format watercolors of the 1980s. Transparent layers of watercolor intertwine several narrative strands and give rise to an ambiguous, kaleidoscopic pictorial world. 

At the foremost pictorial plane, a man can be seen resting his head in his hand. Similar to Francisco de Goya’s well-known etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (1793–99), mysterious-looking figures appear behind and above the man, embodying variants of his world and personality: a man in a tuxedo in an urban setting, an athletic boy, a lover on the search in front of a night bar. Enthroned above these figures and the city is a female figure gazing out at us with half-open eyes.

The outlines of the various figures interlock in such a way that the individual levels can no longer be distinguished. A vein-like structure stretches across the entire picture plane and splinters the lively changes of scene. The precarious tension between the individual and society is thus vividly expressed in the man’s inner and outer turmoil and the warm-cold color contrast.