Jacqueline de Jong, La propag andiste idiote, 1965, oil on canvas, 115 x 72.2 cm, 45 ¼ x 28 ½ in. Collection Kunstmuseum St.Gallen. © Jacqueline de Jong Foundation 2026.
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to announce the acquisition of Jacqueline de Jong's La propag andiste idiote (1965) by Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, where it is currently on view as part of the retrospective exhibition, Disobedience, the artist's first in Switzerland. Curated by Melanie Bühler, the exhibition runs until 22 March 2026.
La propag andiste idiote (1965) marks a pivotal moment in Jacqueline de Jong’s early development, when her expressionist, figurative language - charged with scenes of violence, sexuality, and political unrest - fully crystallises. Painted in oil on canvas (115 × 72 cm), the work belongs to the Accidental series and depicts a chaotic demonstration in which distorted, creaturely figures brandish batons and knives, their bodies fragmented across a turbulent pictorial field. Like the socially critical paintings of George Grosz and Otto Dix from the 1920s, de Jong’s composition exposes the grotesque undercurrents of power, ideology, and mass manipulation. Yet here, propagandism is embodied in a female form, complicating traditional gendered representations of authority and victimhood. Her deep, dichromatic palette - at once seductive and abrasive - imbues the scene with a twisted, unsettling beauty. With this acquisition, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen strengthens its commitment to radical postwar figuration and to a female artist whose uncompromising vision confronts the entanglements of politics, violence, and desire with fierce clarity.
La propag andiste idiote (1965) marks a pivotal moment in Jacqueline de Jong’s early development, when her expressionist, figurative language - charged with scenes of violence, sexuality, and political unrest - fully crystallises. Painted in oil on canvas (115 × 72 cm), the work belongs to the Accidental series and depicts a chaotic demonstration in which distorted, creaturely figures brandish batons and knives, their bodies fragmented across a turbulent pictorial field. Like the socially critical paintings of George Grosz and Otto Dix from the 1920s, de Jong’s composition exposes the grotesque undercurrents of power, ideology, and mass manipulation. Yet here, propagandism is embodied in a female form, complicating traditional gendered representations of authority and victimhood. Her deep, dichromatic palette - at once seductive and abrasive - imbues the scene with a twisted, unsettling beauty. With this acquisition, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen strengthens its commitment to radical postwar figuration and to a female artist whose uncompromising vision confronts the entanglements of politics, violence, and desire with fierce clarity.
5 March 2026
