Liggende naakten in vertekenend perspectief c. 1965 - 1980

Aat Verhoog made this unsettling lithograph, "Liggende naakten in vertekenend perspectief", which translates as "Lying nudes in distorting perspective", sometime in the mid-20th century. It's all about the line here, scratchy and chaotic, like thoughts spilling out onto the page. The colours are muted, a kind of dirty, earthy palette that gives the whole scene a somber feel. Look at the way the figures are rendered, almost like they're melting into the ground. There's a real tension between the flat surface of the paper and the illusion of depth, like the scene is collapsing in on itself. The composition, with its skewed perspective and strange angles, feels deliberately off-kilter, pushing against the classical tradition of idealized nudes. There’s a sense of unease, of something lurking beneath the surface. Think of the starkness of early Paula Rego prints, but with more anguish. It is a reminder that art isn't about easy answers but about embracing the messy, uncertain, and often contradictory nature of human experience.