After Us, Liberty
- Artist: Constant (Constant A. Nieuwenhuys)
- Date: 1949
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1395 x 1066 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is "After Us, Liberty," an oil on canvas from 1949 by Dutch artist Constant (Constant A. Nieuwenhuys). The painting captures the restless, experimental spirit of the Cobra group. Constant, who loved the unfiltered imagination of children and his own menagerie of dogs, cats, a baboon, and an iguana, blends human and animal forms into a night‑time landscape. The figures—some with wide, gaping mouths, others with wild, haunted eyes—float against a dark background marked by stars and a crescent moon. A small tricolour‑flag‑inspired triangle and a ladder motif reference the political nuance of the title.
Originally titled “A Nous la Liberté,” the work was renamed after the 1949 “Kunst in vryheid” exhibition in Amsterdam, reflecting Constant’s doubts about the promise of true freedom in a post‑war society. First shown in the Stedelijk Museum during the first Cobra exhibition, it has since traveled through several Dutch institutions. The canvas remains a striking testament to spontaneity, creativity, and the longing for genuine liberty.
See it in person
After Us, Liberty is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
