Intrigue: James Ensor by Luc Tuymans
29 Oct 2016 - 29 Jan 2017
James Ensor,
The Intrigue, 1890.
Oil on canvas. 90 x 149 cm. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, inv. 1856 Photo KMSKA © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
The Intrigue, 1890.
Oil on canvas. 90 x 149 cm. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, inv. 1856 Photo KMSKA © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
Skeletons Fighting over a Pickled Herring, 1891.
Oil on panel. 16 x 21.5 cm. Photo © Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels. Photography: J. Geleyns - Ro scan / © DACS 2016.
Skeletons Fighting over a Pickled Herring, 1891.
Oil on panel. 16 x 21.5 cm. Photo © Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels. Photography: J. Geleyns - Ro scan / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
From Laughter to Tears, 1908.
Oil on canvas. 52 x 100 cm. The Simon Collection of Belgian Art, London Photo © The Simon Collection of Belgian Art - Courtesy Patrick Derom Gallery / © DACS 2016.
From Laughter to Tears, 1908.
Oil on canvas. 52 x 100 cm. The Simon Collection of Belgian Art, London Photo © The Simon Collection of Belgian Art - Courtesy Patrick Derom Gallery / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
The Skate, 1892.
Oil on panel. 80 x 100 cm. Photo © Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels. Photography: J. Geleyns - Ro scan / © DACS 2016.
The Skate, 1892.
Oil on panel. 80 x 100 cm. Photo © Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels. Photography: J. Geleyns - Ro scan / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
The Skeleton Painter, 1896.
Oil on panel. 37.3 x 45.3 cm. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, inv. 3112 Photo KMSKA © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
The Skeleton Painter, 1896.
Oil on panel. 37.3 x 45.3 cm. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, inv. 3112 Photo KMSKA © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
The Dangerous Cooks, 1896.
Oil on panel. 38 x 46 cm. Photo © Private collection / © DACS 2016.
The Dangerous Cooks, 1896.
Oil on panel. 38 x 46 cm. Photo © Private collection / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
Plague Here, Plague There, Plague Everywhere, 1888.
Black, blue and red chalk and graphite on paper. 22.5 x 30 cm. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, inv. 2742R Photo KMSKA © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
Plague Here, Plague There, Plague Everywhere, 1888.
Black, blue and red chalk and graphite on paper. 22.5 x 30 cm. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, inv. 2742R Photo KMSKA © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
The Artist Surrounded by Evil Spirits, 1898.
Colour lithograph. 53.3 x 37.1 cm. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / © DACS 2016.
The Artist Surrounded by Evil Spirits, 1898.
Colour lithograph. 53.3 x 37.1 cm. Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / © DACS 2016.
James Ensor,
Self-portrait with Flowered Hat, 1883.
Oil on canvas. 76.5 x 61.5 cm. Photo Mu.ZEE © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
Self-portrait with Flowered Hat, 1883.
Oil on canvas. 76.5 x 61.5 cm. Photo Mu.ZEE © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
Luc Tuymans,
Untitled, 1976.
Drypoint etching. 38.5 x 26.6 cm. Courtesy of Studio Luc Tuymans.
Untitled, 1976.
Drypoint etching. 38.5 x 26.6 cm. Courtesy of Studio Luc Tuymans.
INTRIGUE: JAMES ENSOR BY LUC TUYMANS
29 October 2016 — 29 January 2017
The theatrical, the satirical and the macabre come together in arresting fashion in the art of James Ensor. Curated by Luc Tuymans, this exhibition presents a truly original body of work, seen through the eyes of one of today’s leading painters.
Despite spending his whole professional life in the Belgian seaside town of Ostend, James Ensor was very successful in his lifetime and exerted considerable influence on the development of Expressionism. An innovator and an outsider, he rebelled against the conservative art teachings of the late 19th century academy in Brussels, drawn instead to the avant-garde salons where his radical creative vision could thrive.
Ensor’s childhood spent among the fantastical treasures of his family’s curiosity shop offers a clue as to how the seeds of this wild imagination were sown. The imagery of masks and carnivals runs through much of his work, from vibrant colours and flamboyant costumes to an ever-present sense of drama and satire.
We invited the artist Luc Tuymans, a fellow Belgian and admirer of Ensor, to curate this unique exhibition. Taking a personal view, Tuymans looks back at Ensor’s singular career through a selection of his most bizarrely brilliant and gloriously surreal creations.
Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in association with the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.
29 October 2016 — 29 January 2017
The theatrical, the satirical and the macabre come together in arresting fashion in the art of James Ensor. Curated by Luc Tuymans, this exhibition presents a truly original body of work, seen through the eyes of one of today’s leading painters.
Despite spending his whole professional life in the Belgian seaside town of Ostend, James Ensor was very successful in his lifetime and exerted considerable influence on the development of Expressionism. An innovator and an outsider, he rebelled against the conservative art teachings of the late 19th century academy in Brussels, drawn instead to the avant-garde salons where his radical creative vision could thrive.
Ensor’s childhood spent among the fantastical treasures of his family’s curiosity shop offers a clue as to how the seeds of this wild imagination were sown. The imagery of masks and carnivals runs through much of his work, from vibrant colours and flamboyant costumes to an ever-present sense of drama and satire.
We invited the artist Luc Tuymans, a fellow Belgian and admirer of Ensor, to curate this unique exhibition. Taking a personal view, Tuymans looks back at Ensor’s singular career through a selection of his most bizarrely brilliant and gloriously surreal creations.
Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in association with the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.