James Ensor

Lucien Beckers, Brussels
Beckers-Héger, Brussels
Sale: Guillaume Campo, Antwerp, October 22, 1974, lot 138
Private Collection, Europe

Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, James Ensor, 1920, no. 62
Neckarrems, Galerie Schloss Remseck, Ensor, 1972, no. 7

Gregoire Le Roy, James Ensor, Brussels, 1922, illustrated p. 195
Éditions Dereume, Les grandes collections, Brussels, 1973, illustrated on the cover
Xavier Tricot, James Ensor, Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, vol. II, Antwerp, 1992, no. 481, illustrated p. 477
Xavier Tricot, James Ensor, The Complete Paintings, Ostfildern, 2009, no. 492, illustrated p.352

Canvas is laid down on panel. Under UV light: white pigments in background fluoresce but appear to be original. A few small strokes of inpainting at center of upper right quadrant and near center of left edge, otherwise fine. Work is good condition.
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James Ensor is widely considered one of the finest Belgian painters of the 20th century. His unique style and subject matter show a clear reaction to pointillism and a strong influence from the old masters of Northern Europe. In depicting this still life of sundry objects, Ensor hints at his preoccupation with the eclectic artifacts and ornaments of his mother's souvenir shops in Ostende, where he grew up as a child. The painterly and mannered approach to his work makes the otherwise mundane objects come alive in a bold and color-filled composition.

Indeed, this vibrant still life encapsulates a blend of tradition and fantasy that is characteristic of the complex and divided personality of the artist. For James Ensor, an irreverent disregard for convention was second nature; while at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, he was the anarchist student who parodied conservative teachings. Yet this work exemplifies sympathy with the classical still-lifes of the Flemish Old Masters, particularly in a fascination with rendering of light that was such a central preoccupation of artists such as Pieter Claesz and Jan Davidsz de Heem. Ensor's enthusiasm for "light that tumbles in like a child" (Robert Hoozee, 'Ensor and his Environment' in James Ensor 1860-1949, Theatre of Masks (exhibition catalogue), Barbican Art Gallery, London, 1997, p. 25) is exemplified by the atmosphere of airy luminosity of his work, and the glazed ceramics help evoke the limpid quality of Dutch light.

Ensor saw life and the constituent items around it as a constant source of inspiration. As Ensor himself said, "Everything is a matter for painting, everything is good enough to be painted, everything is beautiful enough to be painted" (quoted in Paul Haesaerts, James Ensor, New York, 1959, p. 94).