1860 -1949 · Ostend, Brussels and Belgian avant-garde

Screaming masks, mocking skeletons, carnival crowds and visionary light make James Ensor a radical satirist, at the crossroads of symbolism, expressionism and modernity.

James Ensor was born in Ostend in 1860 to an English father and a Belgian mother. He grew up above the family store of souvenirs and curiosities, where carnival shells, costumes and masks later provided an essential repertoire for his art. From 1877 to 1880, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, then returned to work in a workshop set up above the boutique. From 1877 to 1880, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, then returned to work in a workshop set up above the boutique. Ostend remained his city, its light and its theater: beach, port, bourgeoisie on walks, carnival crowds and the North Sea nourished his entire career. His early paintings explored dark interiors, portraits, still lifes and landscapes treated in free material. In 1883, Ensor participated in the founding of the avant-garde group Les Vingt. However, his independence quickly distanced him from dominant trends, notably neo-impressionism. From the mid-1880s, masks, skeletons, caricatures and biblical subjects invaded his work. The mask does not only hide a face: it reveals the social hypocrisy, vanity and aggressiveness of the group. Ensor learns etching alone in 1886 and finds in the print an ideal means to disseminate his satirical visions. The Entry of Christ into Brussels, undertaken in 1888 and dated 1889, constitutes his manifesto. A huge crowd of clowns, soldiers, bourgeois and masked figures submerges almost the haloed Christ, to whom the artist lends his own features. The religious episode becomes critical of the Church, the State, capitalism and mass society. The singular Masks and Skeletons competing for a saur herring transform domestic comedy into a disturbing farce; the Self-portrait with the flowered hat combines provocation, irony and self-construction. Long contested, Ensor received increasing recognition in the 20th century and became a baron in 1929. Died in Ostend in 1949, he left a work which anticipated fauvism, expressionism, surrealism and modern satire without allowing himself to be locked into any movement. The "James Ensor" selection notably compares The Entry of Christ into Brussels and The Singular Masks. His reading favors figures.

Ensor drops faces to show masks: beneath the dazzling party appears a grotesque, cruel and strangely familiar society.