Memphis artist Marjorie Liebman found herself at the center of American vanguard painting at mid-century. Training with such important and dynamic abstract painters as Vaclav Vytlacil and Hans Hoffmann, Liebman ultimately embraced the quieter abstract tonalities of her friend in the New York School, Mark Rothko.

The veils of iridescent color that characterize Liebman's work of the 1950s anticipated the flowing abstractions of Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and the Color Field painters who would come later. After achieving a good deal of success in the highly competitive art world of New York, Liebman returned to Memphis where she produced some of her most outstanding work.