In a vividly coloured interior reminiscent of Mondrian’s palette, a scene unfolds between three protagonists. The absence of any openings to the outside and the geometric rigour heighten the atmosphere of confinement and enclosure.

On the left, the head of an androgynous-looking woman rests directly on her legs; the removal of the torso challenges conventional representations of anatomy. It reduces the human body to its expressive function (the face) and its functions of movement and seduction (the skirt and legs).

At the centre, a young girl kneels, lost in thought. A dog gazes at her with desire: it has a human face, its mouth obscured by a grimacing mark (as in the film Joker), and its chest is adorned with a pink heart.

The association of familiar elements within an absurd or dreamlike context — the hybridisation of body and head, and an animal with a human face — creates an unsettling sense of strangeness.

The painting is executed on wood. Its small scale gives it the delicacy characteristic of cabinet paintings in the Flemish tradition of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Pat Andrea (b. The Hague, 1942) studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague and has exhibited internationally since 1975. A painter and draughtsman, his practice encompasses painting, drawing, wall drawings, ceramics and sculpture. His engagement with Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, begun in 2003, led to two major series of drawings and paintings and a touring exhibition of the original works. A major retrospective was held at the MORE Museum, Gorssel, in 2021. Andrea was Professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1998 to 2007 and has been a Corresponding Member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts at the Institut de France since 2002.