James Ensor
- Introduction
- James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.
- Wikidata
- Q158840
- Introduction
- Ensor was a visionary and proto-modernist artist whose use of color prefigured fauvism and expressionism, and whose fantastic, symbolist, and satirical imagery were to influence Paul Klee, Emil Nolde, and later the Cobra group. His most productive period was between 1880 and 1900, but he was not well known until the late 1920s. Although many of his works feature satirical fantasies, he also painted seascapes, landscapes, and still-lifes. He was self-taught in the art of copperplate etching and produced many masterful works in this medium. In both his graphical works and in his paintings he made use of the carnival masks sold in his family's shop in Ostend as models for figures in thronging crowd scenes, still lifes, and domestic tableaux. These works can be interpreted as critiques of the Catholic Church, the Belgian state, and society in general. His most well-known painting may be "Christ's Entry into Brussels," a large-scale work in which the title figure is dwarfed by a crowd of grotesques. He remained in Ostend for the majority of his life, leaving in 1877 at the age of 17 to study at the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts in Brussels. Upon his return to Ostend in 1879 he established a studio above his parents' shop, where he produced the majority of his mature work. In 1883 he was a founding member of the Groupe des Vingt. During his lifetime Ensor's work was critiqued harshly by his contemporaries, even among the avant-garde group he helped found.
- Nationality
- Belgian
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Still Life Artist, Painter
- Names
- James Ensor, James Sidney Edouard Ensor, Baron James Ensor, Baron James Sidney Edouard Ensor, James Ensor Baron, Ensor, j. ensor
- Ulan
- 500032046
Exhibitions
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501: 19th-Century Innovators
Ongoing
MoMA
Collection gallery
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New to the Print Collection: Matisse to Bourgeois
Jun 13, 2012–Jan 7, 2013
MoMA
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James Ensor
Jun 28–Sep 21, 2009
MoMA
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Wunderkammer: A Century of Curiosities
Jul 30–Nov 10, 2008
MoMA
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Repicturing the Past/Picturing the Present
Jun 13–Nov 5, 2007
MoMA
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James Ensor has
51 exhibitionsonline.
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James Ensor Cathedral 1886
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James Ensor Tribulations of Saint Anthony 1887
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James Ensor Devil's Sabbath 1887
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James Ensor House on the Boulevard Anspach 1888
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James Ensor Capture of a Strange Town (Prise d'une ville étrange) 1888
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James Ensor The Winds (Les Vents) 1888
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James Ensor Masks Confronting Death 1888
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James Ensor Stars in the Cemetery 1888
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James Ensor Peculiar Insects, state V 1888
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James Ensor Devils Thrashing Angels and Archangels 1888
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James Ensor Small Bizarre Figures, state II 1888
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James Ensor Combat of the Rascals Désir and Rissolé 1888
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James Ensor The Terrible Archer (L'archer terrible) 1888
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James Ensor The Haunted Furniture (Le meuble hanté) 1888
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James Ensor The Gendarmes (Les Gendarmes), state IV 1888
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James Ensor The Assassination 1888
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James Ensor The Assassination 1888
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James Ensor Roman Victory 1889
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James Ensor The Fantastic Ball (Le bal fantastique) 1889
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James Ensor My Portrait as a Skeleton (Mon portrait squelettisé), state III 1889
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James Ensor The Music in the Rue de Flandre, Ostend (La Musique Rue de Flandre, Ostende) 1890
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James Ensor The Multiplication of the Fishes (La Multiplication des poissons) 1891
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James Ensor Windmill at Slykens 1891
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James Ensor Auto-da-Fé 1893
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James Ensor Demons Teasing Me 1895
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James Ensor The Battle of the Golden Spurs 1895
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James Ensor Fridolin and Gragapança of Yperdamme 1895
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James Ensor The Bad Doctors 1895
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James Ensor Christ Descending to Hell 1895
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James Ensor The Old Rascals 1895
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James Ensor King Pest (Le Roi Peste) 1895
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James Ensor Death Chasing the Flock of Mortals (La Mort poursuivant le troupeau des humains) 1896
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James Ensor The Scoundrels 1896
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James Ensor Self Portrait with Demons 1898
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James Ensor The Entrance of Christ into Brussels (L'Entrée du Christ à Bruxelles) 1898
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James Ensor Hop-Frog's Revenge (La Vengeance de Hop-Frog) 1898
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James Ensor Hop-Frog's Revenge (La Vengeance de Hop-Frog) 1898
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James Ensor The Baths at Ostend (Les Bains à Ostende) 1899
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James Ensor The Queen Parysatis 1900
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James Ensor Sloth (La Paresse) 1902
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James Ensor The Beach at La Panne 1904
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James Ensor The Deadly Sins (Les Péchés capitaux) 1888–1904, published 1904
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James Ensor The Deadly Sins Dominated by Death (Les Péchés capitaux dominés par la mort) from The Deadly Sins (Les Péchés capitaux) 1904
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James Ensor Gluttony (La Gourmandise) from The Deadly Sins (Les Péchés capitaux) 1904
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James Ensor Sloth (La Paresse) from The Deadly Sins (Les Péchés capitaux) 1902, published 1904
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James Ensor Pride (L'Orgeuil) from The Deadly Sins (Les Péchés capitaux) 1904
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James Ensor Anger (La Colère) from The Deadly Sins (Les Péchés capitaux) 1904
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James Ensor Avarice (L'Avarice) from The Deadly Sins (Les Péchés capitaux) 1904
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