Founded in Belgium in 1889 and then published in Paris two years later, La Revue blanche, the Parisian literary magazine, disseminated work by avant-garde writers, critics, and artists such as Marcel Proust and Guillaume Apollinaire. The magazine also served as a means for the intelligentsia to discuss social and political issues of the day.

Toulouse-Lautrec shows Misia Natanson, wife of the magazine's editor, Thadée Natanson, ice-skating at the Palais de Glace, an ice rink opened at the Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées by Jules Roques in 1894. This poster, along with Pierre Bonnard's initial version, ushered in the age of commissioning cutting-edge fine artists to create eye-catching and novel advertisements.

Colors in the top and bottom sections may differ slightly as both halves were not pulled at the same time.