While visiting Spain in 1919, Nilsson was strongly impressed by El Greco's works in Toledo. In Málaga, she painted various versions of Gata i Málaga depicting poor girls dancing in the street. Under the influence of the Spanish civil war in 1938, she painted the monumental Penning contra liv (Money Versus Life), revealing her anti-war feelings. It was exhibited the following year at the Royal Academy of Art and in Gothenburg.
