Céline Marie Tabary was best-known for painting recognizable yet abstracted landscapes of her home country and Washington, D.C. Tabary primarily painted in an impressionist style and palette. Her work is filled with recognizable images of gardens, cafes, streets, old houses, and bridges, typically painted outside of the studio en plein air (in the open air). When Loïs Mailou Jones was in Paris from 1937 to 1938, the two friends often placed their easels next to one another along the Seine.

In Terrasse de café, Paris, Tabary portrays a lively scene of daily life. Beneath pink umbrellas, waiters in white jackets serve café patrons who enjoy a moment of leisure. By fracturing the forms into geometric shapes that recall analytical cubism or futurism, Tabary gives the scene energy and movement.