James Ensor now favors increasingly bizarre subject…
1891 CE
Such paintings as The Scandalized Masks (1883) and Skeletons Fighting over a Hanged Man (1891) feature figures in grotesque masks inspired by the ones sold in his mother's gift shop for Ostend's annual Carnival.
Subjects such as carnivals, masks, puppetry, skeletons, and fantastic allegories are dominant in Ensor's mature work.
Ensor dresses skeletons up in his studio and arranges them in colorful, enigmatic tableaux on the canvas, and uses masks as a theatrical aspect in his still lifes.
Attracted by masks' plastic forms, bright colors, and potential for psychological impact, he creates a format in which he can paint with complete freedom.
Images
James Ensor: Skeletons Fighting for the Body of a Hanged Man (1891; Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp).
People
Groups
Subjects
Regions
West Europe
View →Subregions
