Hoyland trained at the Royal Academy Schools and was profoundly impressed by Abstract Expressionism during visits to the United States. Since first coming to prominence in 1961, he has always worked as an abstract painter and is one of Britain's leading colourists. In this ebullient composition, the canvas is divided diagonally, and one half denies formally the propositions expressed in the other half. The title may be a corruption of the Latin 'ligea' meaning 'wood nymph'.