日清戦争後の文壇では、泉鏡花の「外科室」や川上眉山（びざん）の「書記官」など、社会の不合理を主題にした観念小説が流行していました。清方は、人生の哀愁を描いたこのような小説を好んで読み、創作の材料としました。また、小坂象堂（しょうどう）や无声会（むせいかい）の作品にも学んだといいます。
明治30年（1897）に、日本絵画協会第3回絵画共進会展の会場で、象堂の《小春》を見て、淡彩による平明な人物描写に感銘を受けました。さらに翌年の同第4回展で発表された《養鶏》の洋画的な表現にも清新さを感じたといいます。加えて、身近な風俗に取材し无声会で発表していた結城素明（ゆうきそめい）や平福百穂（ひらふくひゃくすい）等の活動にも一目を置いていました。
清方は同時代の文学と美術の両方から影響を受けて本作を手がけました。笛を吹く娘は、従姉（いとこ）の姿を写したものです。

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Marsh at Dusk (1900)
color on silk; hanging scroll
112.2 x 71.2 cm

(First exhibited at the 8th Japan Painting Association and 3rd Japan Art Institute Joint Competitive Exhibition)

The so-called kannen shōsetsu stories, which addressed social ills, including Gekashitsu (The Operating Room) by Izumi Kyōka and Shokikan (The Secretary) by Kawakami Bizan, were popular in literary circles after the First Sino-Japanese War. Kiyokata liked reading these kinds of books, which described the pathos of life, and he used them as material for his creative production. As for art of drawing, he also studied works by Kosaka Shōdō and the Museikai.
In 1897, Kiyokata saw Koharu (Small Spring) by Shōdō at the Third Competitive Exhibition organized by the Japan Painting Association. He was deeply impressed by the simple portrait done in pale colors. He also seems to have sensed a fresh approach in the Western-style expression of Yōkei (Poultry Farming) shown at the Fourth Competitive Exhibition the following year. Kiyokata also had great regard for the works of Yūki Somei and Hirafuku Hyakusui, among others, who depicted everyday customs in works exhibited at the Museikai.
When he created this painting, Kiyokata was influenced by both contemporary literature and art. The model for the young woman playing the flute is his cousin.