Scholderer executed his first version of the motif, titled Preparing for a Fancy-Dress Ball (Fig. 1), between October 1879 and February 1880. When the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880 it was greeted with a barrage of criticism. In a letter to Henri Fantin-Latour dated 8 June 1880 Scholderer noted that he had grown displeased with the painting since there are many bad things about it, I hope to be able to improve them when the work returns from the Academy (...).

Preparing for a Fancy-Dress Ball was sold to a buyer from Manchester in the autumn of 1880. Despite the harsh critiques, an anonymous client took a liking to the subject and commissioned Scholderer to produce a second version – with the proviso that it would be exhibited at the Royal Academy. Scholderer refused, but returned to the subject of his own accord in spring 1881. In a letter to his friend Fantin-Latour dated 18 April 1881 he elaborated on this: At the moment I am working on a kind of reproduction of my painting of last year, the preparations for a fancy-dress ball. I am most content to be doing it again, I think it will be better; I believe that last year that painting taught me a great deal.

The present painting shows that Scholderer made determined efforts to respond to the criticism directed against his first version of the motif. The women’s bearing, the interaction between them and the way some of them seem to bask confidently in the viewer’s gaze now have a graceful elegance. Some of the models have been replaced. Some of the preparatory studies for this second version are now held in the Graphische Sammlung des Städelschen Kunstinstituts in Frankfurt.