Inspired by the events in Kosovo. On April 12, 1999 Time Magazine printed a powerful cover photo by photographer Damir Sagolj of refugees from Kosovo with a woman with a white head scarf and a baby at her breast in front. It may have been this image that inspired Constant to paint Les éxpulsés. When you look at the original photo the white head scarf, the coloroud clothes in the middle of the line of people and the curved bend of the line of refugees are mirrored in Constants painting. However, Constants portrays the refugees on the back, focussing on where they are going, not on where they come from.