James Ensor Art
Belgian, 1860-1949
James Ensor is a Belgian painter and printmaker and an important influence on Expressionism and Surrealism. Ensor's early works, such as Russian Music (1881) and The Drunkards (1883), depict realistic scenes in a somber style, after which his palette subsequently brightened and he favored increasingly bizarre subject matter. 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 dressed skeletons up in his studio and arranged them in colorful, enigmatic tableaux on the canvas and used masks as a theatrical aspect in his still lifes. Attracted by masks' plastic forms, bright colors and potential for psychological impact, he created a format in which he could paint with complete freedom. Ensor was a prolific and accomplished printmaker. He created 133 etchings and drypoints throughout his career, with 86 of them made between 1886 and 1891 during the height of Ensor's most creative period. Ensor himself recognized that the prints were a key part of his artistic legacy, stating in a letter to Albert Croquez in 1934, "Yes, I intend to go on working for a long time yet so that generations to come may hear me. I intend to survive, and I think of the solid copper plate, the unalterable ink, easy reproduction, faithful prints and I adopt etching as a means of expression.”
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La Mare aux Peupliers - Original Etching by James Ensor - 1889
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Original etching realized by James Ensor in 1889.
Hand signed and dated. Good conditions, small stain lower right.
Image Dimensions : 15 x 23 cm
References: Delteil, Taevernier 74.
Category
1880s Modern James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Frise, the Swedish botanist - Original Etching y James Ensor - 1886
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Orginal etching on zinc plate, signed and dated on plate on verso. Second state of two(II/II).
Very fine impression, printed in black ink with plate tone. Very good conditions, with ...
Category
1880s Modern James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
La Gourmandise - Etching by James Ensor - 1904
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Gluttony (La Gourmandise) is an original etching on the Japanese paper, realized by James Ensor in 1904, signed and dated with the second signature and title on the reverse, 2nd stat...
Category
Early 1900s Surrealist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Assassinat - Etching by James Ensor - 1888
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Assassinat is an original etching on the Japanese paper, realized by James Ensor in 1888, signed on the plate and dated, with the second signature on the reverse.
In good conditions...
Category
1880s Surrealist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Le Roi Peste (The Plague Kings) - Etching by James Ensor - 1895
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
The Plague Kings is an original etching on the Japanese paper, realized by James Ensor in 1895, signed on the plate and dated, unique state, with the second signature on the reverse ...
Category
1890s Surrealist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Peste Dessous Peste Dessus Peste Partout!-Original Etching by James Ensor-1900s
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Etching on zinc plate, realized in 1904 on japan paper. It is signed in plate in small letters at the bottom right.
On the lower right margin, it is signed also in pencil. Not dated...
Category
Early 1900s Modern James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
"Les Patineurs, " Etching of a Winter Landscape signed by James Ensor
By James Ensor
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Les Patineurs" is a signed etching by James Ensor. It is from the Loÿs Delteil 65 volume XIX and depicts a multitude of skaters on a frozen pond. "Les Patineurs" is the French word ...
Category
Late 19th Century Realist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
"La Plage de la Panne, " Seascape Etching signed by James Ensor
By James Ensor
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"La Plage de la Panne" is an original etching by James Ensor. The artist signed the piece in plate in the lower right and signed, titled, and dated it below t...
Category
Early 1900s James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Scènes de la vie du Christ - Vintage Rare Book Illustrated by James Ensor - 1921
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Scènes de la vie du Christ is an original modern rare book illustrated by James Ensor (Ostend, 1860 - Ostend, 1949) in 1921.
Original edition.
Published by George Giroux, Bruxelles...
Category
1920s Expressionist James Ensor Art
Materials
Lithograph, Paper
Capture of a strange town - Etching by James Ensor - 1888
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Etching on cream paper, copper plate, 4th final state of four. Titled on lower left, hand signed in pencil and dated on lower right by the artist. A signature on plate, hard to read,...
Category
1880s Modern James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Christus bij de bedelaars , 1895, etching, plate-signed, James Ensor
By James Ensor
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Taevernier No. 102 - Etching is in very good condition and of very good quality. Although the plate was deleted in the presence of a bailiff in 1950 or 1951, this print was made afte...
Category
Late 19th Century James Ensor Art
Materials
Handmade Paper
Exterminating Angel
By James Ensor
Located in New York, NY
James Ensor (1860-1949), Exterminating Angel (L'Ange Exterminateur), etching with drypoint, 1889, signed and dated in pencil lower right, also titled and countersigned verso. Referen...
Category
1880s Symbolist James Ensor Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
Les Masques Scandalisés - Etching by J. Ensor - 1895
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Hand signed, also signed on plate.
Passepartout included : 49 x 34 cm
Image Dimensions : 8 x 12 cm
Catalogue Deteil n. 99.
This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under existing legisl...
Category
1890s Post-Impressionist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
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About the subject:
Nowhere is the intertwining of metaphysical, biographic and social narratives more evident than in the Café Life series painted in the 1980’s. Though the “series” was done in the 80’s, the pieces really revive the spirit of the Beat café scene, which began in the mid-1950’s and which was so instrumental to the particular spiritual and social vibe of the counter culture. And his Café Life observations continue over his artist life with scenes, such as the ones here, from Los Angles, Bolinas, Mexico and Italy.
About the artist:
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Bibi Valentin
By James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Located in Storrs, CT
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A young girl, sits facing the viewer, leaning on her left elbow, legs extended to left. She wears a high-necked smock and buttoned boots...
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Previously Available Items
La Gamme d’Amour - Vintage Rare Book Illustrated by James Ensor - 1929
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
La Gamme d’Amour is an original modern rare book illustrated by James Ensor (Ostend, 1860 - Ostend, 1949) in 1929.
Original edition.
Aux Editions “Un coup de dés…”, Bruxelles.
270...
Category
1920s Expressionist James Ensor Art
Materials
Lithograph, Paper
H 9.85 in W 13 in D 0.2 in
The Deadly Sins - Original Etching by James Ensor - 1904
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Deadly Sins is an original etching and drypoint on the Japanese paper, realized by James Ensor in 1904, signed, dated and titled:
"Les Péchés capitaux dominés par la Mort", Deadly ...
Category
Early 1900s Surrealist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
H 3.59 in W 5.52 in D 0.08 in
L'Adoration des Bergères - Original Etching by James Ensor - 1888
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Hand Signed and dated. Signed also on plate. Passepartout included. Very good conditions.
Catalogue Delteil n. 58.
James Ensor (Belgium, 1860-1949), a forerunner of 20th-century Ex...
Category
1890s Modern James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
H 19.69 in W 14.57 in D 0.04 in
BATTLE OF THE DOWN & OUTS
By James Ensor
Located in Santa Monica, CA
JAMES ENSOR (1860-1949)
LE COMBAT DES POUILLEUX DESIR ET RISSOLE
aka - BATTLE OF THE DOWN AND OUTS 1888 (D, C, T, E, 19 ii/ii)
Etching and drypoint, signed and countersigned on verso. 9 3/8 x11 3/8”. Very good impression with plate tone. On the usual simili japan paper. Sheet 14 ½” x 19. Nice burr in the lower right. There is a drawing of a similar scene with the second title. Very good large scale Ensor. A few handling creases in the image.
Even tone to the sheet unlike photos
Excerpt from 2003 C. G. Boerner catalog written by Eric Gillis and Patrick Florizoone:
"This sort of drunken bar scene was quite popular in 17th century Flemish painting. The scene is in fact watched over by the figure of Jan Steen, the amount 17th century Flemish painter, seen standing in the right window. The plate refers to Steen's painting titled Interior of an Inn with Card Players Fighting (1664, Alte Pinakothek, Munich) as well as to the burlesque theatre that Ensor knew in Brussels. The print is similar to Ensor's original drawing in which playing cards and a chair are shown on the ground. In any case, aggressive behavior in his protagonists is common to the artist's work around 1890."
Belgian Symbolism...
Category
1880s Symbolist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
The Cathedral: Second Plate
By James Ensor
Located in New York, NY
James Ensor (1860-1949), The Cathedral: Second Plate, etching, 1896, signed and dated “1886” in pencil, counter-signed verso, with margins, in very good condition. Reference: Delteil...
Category
1890s Impressionist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Les Péchés Capitaux dominés par la Mort
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Signed on plate. Very good conditions.
Image Dimensions： 9 x 13.5 cm
This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under existing legislation, any artwork in Italy created over 70 years ago b...
Category
1880s Post-Impressionist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
Lisière du Petit Bois, Ostende - Etching by James Ensor
By James Ensor
Located in Roma, IT
Hand signed and dated. Signed also on plate. Copy on Japan paper. Superb and Fresh impression in perfect conditions.
Bibliography:
Cat. Tavernier n.27 III.
Cat. Delteil n. 27
Cat. G...
Category
1880s Post-Impressionist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
H 6.3 in W 9.85 in D 0.04 in
Portrait of Elias Frise
By James Ensor
Located in New York, NY
James Ensor (1860-1949), Portrait of Elias Frise, etching, 1886, signed, titled (le’ancetre) and dated in pencil recto; also signed and titled verso, on laid japon nacre paper. References: Delteil 3, Elesh 3, second state (of 2). In very good condition, with wide margins (hinged at top to a backing sheet, not matted), 9 3/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 16 x 11 1/2 inches.
Provenance:
Augusta Boogaerts (1850-1951), Ostend, a gift from the artist (with her initials AB in pencil verso)
Mira Jacob Wolfovska (1912-2004), Paris, with her blindstamp lower right margin (not in Lugt)
A fine impression, printed in black ink with plate tone.
The first state is without Ensor’s signature and date.
Elesh notes that this print has been variously identified as “Portrait d’un ecclesiastique, Portrait, and Viellard, but that it is a portrait of the Swedish botanist Elias Fries, made after an anonymous lithograph; and that the reasons Ensor made the print are open to conjecture. But we can offer some clues as to Ensor’s motivation.
Elias Magnus Frise (1794-1878), Swedish botanist, was the developer of the first system to classify fungi, a system still valid for many groups of fungi today. He also developed a system for classifying lichens. Wikipedia notes that his “taxonomy of mushrooms was influenced by Goethe and the German romantics”.
During his student years at the Academy Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels Ensor became acquainted with a number of anti-establishment artists including the symbolists Fernand Khnopff, and Willy Finch...
Category
1880s Impressionist James Ensor Art
Materials
Etching
James Ensor art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic James Ensor art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by James Ensor in etching, paper, drypoint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 19th century and is mostly associated with the Surrealist style. Not every interior allows for large James Ensor art, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Maurice Pasternak, Abraham Rattner, and Paul Delvaux. James Ensor art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,782 and tops out at $17,000, while the average work can sell for $8,410.
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Questions About James Ensor Art
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022To show depth in his work, James Ensor would use linear perspective to set the scene for the observer. See the magic for yourself by shopping a selection of James Ensor’s pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.