James Ensor
(Belgian, 1860–1949)
Biography
James Ensor was a Belgian painter and important influence known for his macabre and brightly colored depictions of masked skeletons, seascapes, and carnivals. In works such as Christ’s Entry into Brussels in 1889 (1888), Ensor explored both autobiographical and social themes through thickly painted patches of color and grotesque caricatures. “Medicinal sea, west-national sea, adored mother, I want in a fresh bouquet, without surrealist ways, to celebrate your one hundred faces, your surfaces, your facets, your dimples, your Rubescent bottoms, your diamond crests, your sapphire tops, your qualities, your delights, your profound charms,” he once mused. Born on April 13, 1860 in Ostend, Belgium, Ensor went on to study at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, where he rebelled against the strict instruction and befriended like-minded students such as Théo van Rysselberghe. After selling the entire contents of his studio in the 1890s do to a personal crisis, Ensor was resolute to give up painting, though he returned to it after only a few short years. By the early 20th century, he had become widely known throughout Europe by artists such as Paul Klee, George Grosz, and Alfred Kubin. Ensor died on November 19, 1949 in Ostend, Belgium. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.
Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction
James Ensor Artworks
James Ensor
Peste dessous, peste dessus, peste partout!, 1904
Sale Date: November 30, 2005
Auction Closed
.jpg "Les cataclysmes (+ 2 others, w/ed.; 3 works, , 1888")
James Ensor
Les cataclysmes (+ 2 others, w/ed.; 3 works, , 1888
Sale Date: November 3, 2005
Auction Closed
.jpg "Mon père mort (+ L'écorché, etching; 2 works), 1888")
James Ensor
Mon père mort (+ L'écorché, etching; 2 works), 1888
Sale Date: November 3, 2005
Auction Closed
.jpg "Les pêches capitaux dominés par la mort..., 1904")
James Ensor
Les pêches capitaux dominés par la mort..., 1904
Sale Date: October 31, 2005
Auction Closed
.jpg "Fishermen (+ The artist Willy Finch in his..., 1880")
James Ensor
Fishermen (+ The artist Willy Finch in his..., 1880
Sale Date: September 6, 2005
Auction Closed
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