James Ensor

Private Collection, Belgium (acquired circa 1970)
By descent from the above to the present owner

Xavier Tricot, James Ensor, Germany, 2009, no. 641, catalogued p. 383

There is a 9cm long horizontal crack (visible in the catalogue illustration) to the upper part of the extreme right edge with some further smaller associated cracks. There is a slight bowing in the wood corresponding to these cracks. UV examination does not reveal any fluorescence but there is an area of atypical paint execution to the crack which is possibly a long standing restoration. There is some frame rubbing mainly to the top part of the extreme left edge and to the centre and lower parts of the right edge. Otherwise, this work is in fairly good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Coquilles et statuettes is a remarkable example of Ensor's dreamy imagination, a delicate arrangement of the personal and private possessions populating his studio. Painted in 1934, the year in which Ensor is crowned as the "Prince of painters" in Brussels during a ceremony organised by the painter Jean Vervisch, the present work heightens the feeling of supernatural presence of these material objects.  The still-life displays a dramatic theatricality typical of the artist's œuvre. 

A statuette of a Venus takes centre stage, as she is harmonically embraced by a number of shells collected by the artist in his sea-side hometown of Ostende, an iconic Ensorian Japanese mask, a vase and a teapot.  Permeating the work with a sense of suspended movement, such elements echo and interact with each other in a balanced atmosphere of nuanced pink and light blue tones. This frontal display of disparate objects is framed at the upper two corners by semi-transparent masks, acting as repoussoirs for the composition. Such masks, with their mouth open and glaring into the scene, seem to blow life and air into the overall work, surprisingly disrupting the sense of peace and calm which eerily dominates the foreground. Ensor, the "painter of masks" as nicknamed by the poet Èmile Verhaeren, captures a feeling of unrest in a most candid manner.