The Party

Created in the 1960s, The Party takes place in the Hamptons. It’s attended by captains of industry, tycoons, magnates, moguls, and various undistinguishable fat cats, luxuriating in their tuxedos, evening gowns, and prattling small talk. The depiction of one grotesquerie after another ? often couples ? cavorting through the haze of booze and caviar, with the occasional wanton display of sybaritically libidinal impulse. Ungerer accompanies each full-page image with a hilarious, hand-lettered caption, which provides the characters’ names and a brief deadpan description of their social standings, creating a dissonance between image and text.