Masquerade: the work of James Ensor (1860 – 1949)

Saturday, 30 June, 2007 - Sunday, 23 September, 2007

Free admission

The Belgian painter and printmaker, James Ensor was the son of Anglo-Belgian parents. His father, whom he idolized, was of English descent and died of alcoholism in 1887. His Belgian mother ran a tourist souvenir shop in the seaside resort of Ostend. The shop’s contents - seashells, figurines, Chinese curios, and above all the masks that were sold for Ostend’s renowned annual Carnival festivities - influenced much of Ensor’s imagery.

This exhibition focuses on his important painting Old Lady with Masks (1889) and explores the diversity of his themes - religion and politics, literature and fantasy – through his prints and drawings. Ensor was as influential technically in his prints, most of which were created between 1886 and 1900, as in his paintings.

Masks, skeletons and religious subjects pervaded Ensor’s work. His blend of tragedy and macabre comedy, grotesque satire alongside whimsical fantasy, met with criticism early in his career, but influenced later artists. His bitter mockery often exposed the arrogance and power of the church, small town society, and monarchy. Often he mixed sacred and profane, fantasy with pointed social criticism and dream with reality. For Ensor “Reason was the enemy of Art”.

This exhibition was organised in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent. It has lent these works by James Ensor in exchange for the loan of our famous Pre-Raphaelite picture 'The Scapegoat' which will be exhibited in Ghent in autumn 2007.

The exhibition also includes prints from the Fine Arts Museum, Ostend.

Events and activities

A series of free events and activities will be held at the Lady Lever Art Gallery to complement this exhibition.

James Ensor images

Artcylopedia has a comprehensive list of artworks by James Ensor available to view online.

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