Florine Stettheimer traveled and studied art in the United States and Europe and became a modernist painter, pioneering feminist, and theatrical designer who hosted an influential cultural salon in New York City. Returning to New York City from Europe at the outbreak of World War I, she developed an intimate and faux-naive painting style that captured her direct emotional responses to her subjects, which included the modern metropolis and the activities of the cultural avant-garde.

"Still Life with Flowers" likely is one of the flower paintings that Stettheimer created each year on her birthday. The two bouquets are arranged beneath curtains, as if appearing or performing on a bright stage. Each arrangement has a distinct personality, with the larger, more professional one claiming center stage, while the smaller, amateur one competes for attention. Emphasizing their rich colors and tactile surfaces, she called these floral compositions “eyegays”—a play on “nosegay” (a small bouquet).