Meet James Ensor, painter of masks and skeletons. What was it all about, those skulls and masks painted in such loud colors? What it was was a unique mastery unlike any other that has come before him or since. Born in Ostend, Belgium he quickly attained the master painter title, originally painting quite serene and realistic canvases. He founded the group “Les XX” or “The Twenty” but soon broke away to seclusion.
Bit by bit his paintings ventured into unknown territory becoming more and more bizarre. The painting “Scandalized Masks” marks a turning point away from conventional style and subject. Perhaps inspired by the dolls and masks sold in his mother’s gift shop, his paintings were dominated by masks and masquerade themes. Thin skinned and self conscious, he didn’t take it well when art critics thrashed his artwork saying it was too macabre and disturbing. They saw the paintings as too hideous which you might agree after looking at some of some of the more gruesome titles as “Skeletons Fighting For a Smoked Herring,” and “Skeletons Fighting For a Corpse.”
For Ensor, these paintings were allegories of the political and social climate of modern times. Rich with symbolism, his pictures were often satirical parodies of the behavior of his fellow Belgians and of humanity in general. A political satire he executed in 1888 was probably his most famous work, “Entry of Christ Into Brussels.” Here we have the biblical second coming of Christ into the capital city in modern times, met with the citizens as if it was a parade. The mayor, the upper crust, the politicians and advertisers use the event for their own personal gain and publicity. The people are drunk with self interest as they yearn to be seen in such a spectacle. The parade shadows and belittles the main event, Christ himself, who is barely seen in the street on his donkey.
His many mask paintings show crude and inhuman people wearing a mask over a mask, clearly signifying people’s two-faced nature. He expressed his opinions through his pictures not just of his critics and contemporaries, but of mankind in general, making quite a statement. Despite the rejections of many of his seemingly more scandalous works, his paintings continued to be exhibited. More and more his Belgian public cherished him and his works. He was eventually made a baron, and although his creative genius waned in his later years, he died a much loved national celebrity.
He would influence the Expressionist and Surrealist art movements and artists such as Emil Nolde and Paul Klee. He can be found referenced in modern pop culture in the “They Might Be Giants” song “Meet James Ensor” seen in this video.
See “Self Portrait in 1960,” “Self Portrait With Masks,” and “Self Portrait in a Hat”
Also see our model of “Scandalized Masks” by me and Noah,
by scandalized masks, on March 15 2008 @ 03:57
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