James Ensor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Frederic Ensor, bust,
Artist: Edmond de Valériola,
Location: Ostende, Belgien

James Ensor (April 13, 1860 - November 19, 1949) was a Belgian impressionist painter, who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life; his father was English, his mother Belgian. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.

His works are prominently featured in the Modern Art Museum of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, and exhibited in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. A collection of his letters is held in the Contemporary Art Archives of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels.

James Ensor is considered to be an innovator in 19th century art, and a precursor to the surrealist painters of the twentieth century. During the late 1800s much of his work was rejected as scandalous, particuarly his painting Entry of Christ into Brussels. However, his paintings continued to be exhibited, and he gradually won acceptance and acclaim. He is considered to have influenced Klee and other expressionist painters.

[edit] References in other media

In the 1978 movie Halloween the main character has a poster of a James Ensor painting in her bedroom.
In 1994 a new audience was introduced to James Ensor when the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants released their song "Meet James Ensor".
The 1996 Belgian movie Camping Cosmos was inspired by drawings of James Ensor, in particular Carnaval sur la plage (1887), La mort poursuivant le troupeau des humains (1896), and Le bal fantastique (1889), in reference to the yearly "Bal du Rat Mort" which was founded by Ensor in Ostend in 1898. The comic Le Bal du Rat mort by the same author, Jan Bucquoy, was also inspired by Ensor.
In the 2003 South Korean film Oldboy, the portrait of a smiling face in Oh Dae-su's confinement room is based on The Man of Sorrows by James Ensor.