Nicholas Ghika painted Petite Composition en Gris, signed and dated 1953, in a studio in the Boulevard St Jacques, in Paris, which he had rented for four months. He could see the buildings which are in the centre of the picture from his window. The surrounding patterns originated from another view of Parisian roofs seen from above, and are mingled with wrought-iron designs of window railings. According the the artist, it is one of the last of a series of roofs done at this period. It was exhibited at the Leicester Galleries in London in 1955 whence it was acquired and presented with the support of Noel Evelyn 'Peter', Lady Norton (1891-1972) and friends through the Contemporary Art Society.