Bridget Riley’s “stripe” compositions of the early 1970s, such as Red, Turquoise, Grey, and Black Bands, explore color relationships and the connection between form and color. While earlier images from the late 1960s eschewed black in favor of pure color on a white ground, Riley’s reintroduction of black into this composition marks a new phase in the artist’s body of work.

Within Riley’s oeuvre, gouache drawings often serve as studies for larger compositions in oil on canvas or linen. The artist mixes each of the paint colors to ensure the exact hue and intensity needed to achieve the desired optical effect.