Imaginary compositions

Homo Ludens

Kees van Willigen · 1915–1990

Date

1987

Medium

Oil painting

Size

30 x 33 cm

Homo Ludens (the playing man) is in the same playful vein as Giraffes. The painting arose from the purchase of a piece of pumpkin meant for a soup, which stayed on the kitchen table for a day before being cooked; a few weeks later, the painter had drawn this composition from it.

A pumpkin-shaped boat with sails is propelled by an imaginary wind coming from the mouth of a magical being, and has run aground on a blond beach.