A striking ink and wash drawing by Dutch artist Lucebert, featuring a whimsical, abstract creature rendered with spontaneous, expressive lines.

Lucebert, the pseudonym of Lubertus Jacobus Swaanswijk, remains a central figure in post-war Dutch art. As a poet and painter, his visual work often mirrors the raw, unrefined energy of his literary output. This piece, titled Vliegend fantasiewezen, dates from 1970 and displays the characteristic spontaneity associated with his later career. The work features a central, hybrid figure that defies anatomical logic, rendered with bold, sweeping ink lines that suggest movement and transformation.

The composition relies on a stark contrast between the dark, fluid ink washes and the negative space of the paper. Lucebert employs a calligraphic approach, where the weight of the line varies to define the creature's form, while the wash provides depth and atmospheric shadow. The figure appears to hover, framed by amorphous shapes that evoke clouds or ethereal voids. This approach aligns with the principles of the CoBrA movement, which prioritised intuitive expression and the rejection of formal academic constraints.

Lucebert's work from this period often explores themes of the grotesque and the mythical. By stripping away representational detail, he invites the viewer to engage with the image as a psychological projection rather than a literal depiction. The figure's head, marked by simple geometric indicators, contrasts with the chaotic, hatched textures of its body, creating a tension between order and disorder. This print captures the artist's ability to balance humour with a sense of unease, a hallmark of his creative output. It is a direct, unmediated expression of the artist's internal world, presented with the immediacy of a sketch. The work is signed and dated by the artist in the lower left corner, providing a clear link to his practice during this productive decade.