Starting in 1942, Borduas gradually abandoned water-based mediums to focus exclusively on oil painting. However, in 1950, he returned to watercolor, gouache, and ink, exploring these techniques in small-format works. In these pieces, he developed a new approach where the object, reduced to a mere stain, stands out against the white of the paper within compositions punctuated by graphic networks.

Between 1951 and 1952, shortly before his move to New York, his work evolved towards a more personal form of abstract expressionism, marking a departure from automatism. The distinction between object and background became less pronounced, while the central focal point disappeared in favor of a flattened, omnipresent pictorial surface. This stylistic transformation can be observed in both his oil paintings and works on paper.