Ensor

Taschen Basic Art

by Ulrike Becks-Malorny

An Expressionist before the term was coined, James Ensor (1860–1949) was the classic insider-outsider enigma. He knew all the right art-world figures but loathed most of them. His style lurched from the Gothic fantastical to the Christian visionary. He was a cosmopolitan trailblazer of modernism, but lived reclusively in an attic room in the resort town of Ostend. For all his elusiveness, Ensor influenced generations of artists through his vivid often gruesome paintings, prints, and drawings. He is cited in particular for his use of dark satire and allegory, his innovative lighting, and for his interest in carnival and performance, showcased in The Entry of Christ into Brussels in 1889 as well as in his repertoire of self-portraits in which he employs masking, travesty, and role-playing to adopt such varied guises as Christ on the Cross and a gender-bending dandy. This introduction to Ensor explores the richness and variety of his imagery through key examples of his macabre, maverick oeuvre. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

95 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[HCE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ensor <3

[Adolfo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encontré bonitas similitudes de este artista solitario y mal entendido en su época con otro que conozco en nuestra época. A mi me parece que toda su obra de alguna manera esta relacionada con la muerte que también contiene un alta critíca a la sociedad. Quizás en el espíritu de este artista había un rencor hacia su medio que no logro nunca superar. La vida es muy cruda para los que se dan cuenta y sobresalen del rebaño popular y mayoritario. Lo recomiendo!

[Geert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am from Ostende. I wonder if the woman who wrote this booklet ever took the trouble to go there, and maybe just walk up and down the Vlaanderenstraat (rue de Flandre in this book). Maybe, just maybe she would have noticed that a picture of the street is showing the wrong end of the street, an end he never painted. Is it important? Well, I think it is. It's too easy to write a book from.other books and articles, if you don't really contribute anything. This is called pulp.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was my first real exposure to Ensor and it was really great. I'm looking forward to encountering more of Ensor's work.

[Kerfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all Taschen art books, this is beautiful to look at and easy to read. The biographical information provides a nice overview of Ensor's life and times, and there are plenty of mostly color illustrations to complement the text.

The artist was eccentric, the art magical. The mask and skull paintings particularly appealed to me, as did Ensor's use of color. I didn't realize that Belgium had such a strong tradition of Carnival.

I wish I had read this before I saw his show at MOMA; it definitely would have added to the experience. At $10, a bargain.

[Bronwyn Rodden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This small but well made book by the wonderful Taschen publishers is a great read about this somewhat bizarre but gifted fin de siecle painter from Ostend, on the Belgium sea coast. It includes many images of his work, including some great ones from the great collection in Antwerp and the captions on the plates are informative and interesting.