The contemporary Dutch Depressionist Judy Eyck Lester paints in the style of her 16th-century forebears, but with contemporary broken home and dysfunctional family themes. She makes use of her children as models whenever the court returns them to her. 

According to the story accompanying the painting, the artist came home one Saturday afternoon to discover that her children, Hansel and Gwendolyn, had found a bottle of Valium in a dresser drawer and had not only taken several of the tablets themselves, but had dosed the family cat "Guntrum" as well.

Always alert for an artistic opportunity, Lester quickly dressed the unresisting pair in appropriate period costumes and did a quick sketch from which the subject painting ensued. Shortly afterward she called emergency services as both children had taken on a bluish tinge and were slipping into a stuporous state. The fate of the cat is unknown. 

Lester's other works include "Kitty in the Microwave" in the style of Jan van Eyk, "The Unlicensed Foster Home" in the style of Hieronymous Bosch, and "The Drunken Stepfather" à la Franz Hals. Her most recent exhibition was in the Hakluyt Women's Prison in Amsterdam.

 

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