Françoise Gilot never insisted on a particular subject matter, she believed in the process of painting. Unlike her ex-husband, Picasso, she prefers to let shapes and colours evolve, and the painting process guides her. In this work, intuitive, less figurative shapes were last-minute thoughts.

From the 1970s, Gilot began painting on larger canvases in less traditional compositions. She started to use solutions that require more spontaneity and less formalism. It uses a technique similar to Japanese kakemonos or Tibetan large tanks. She begins to paint on unstretched and ungrounded cotton canvas with acrylic paint. She calls the large and painted on both sides paintings "floating paintings," which "can move and fly freely."

In 1983 The Limited Editions Club, New York, publishes Collette's, Break of Day in a limited edition of two thousand signed and number copies. In addition to her illustrations, this book contains three original silkscreens by Gilot.