After the Party, Jac van Looij, c. 1890

black chalk, with white heightening, h 360mm × w 525mm More details

Fortunately Van Looij wrote the title ‘After the party’ on the drawing. A drunken woman in the gutter, her undergarments visible, was a risqué subject in his time. As an artist and writer, Van Looij was fascinated by street parties: his descriptions elucidate how he felt both an ‘aristocratic’ attraction and condemnation. In the excesses of the pleasures of life, the differences between rich and poor vanish and everyone is equal.