Brussels: area by area: The Upper Town – Musées Royaux de Beaux-Arts: Musée d’Art Moderne - James ENSOR

James ENSOR (1891)
Wood - 16 x 21,5 cm

This work, bequeathed by Alla and Bénédict Goldschmidt, attracts attention for its special significance. In it, the artist uses a silly play on words with the smoked herring – hareng-saur in French = Art Ensor - which not only demonstrates his sarcastic and ironic temperament, but also takes us back to an actual real-life situation. In 1891, the critics were virulent and fought among themselves about Ensor like skeletons biting furiously into a fish. This was also the period when Ensor began impersonating the features of Christ to whom he compared his destiny. He also kept company with Death and from 1887, skeletons became one of the main motifs in his work.