James Ensor grew up in the Belgian seaside resort of Ostend where his family owned a souvenir shop on the ground floor of their house. The store sold curiosities such as grotesque masks, puppets, dolls, seashells, and hats. The town often held elaborate carnival festivities. The festivities and the store's curious left a permanent mark upon Ensor's imagination and eventually became important motifs in his art.

During the early 1880s his work was well-received in both avant-garde and conservative exhibitions. His approach, however, began to change, moving toward brutal and shocking subject matter. The form and content of his work became so shockingly avant-garde that he was excluded from the group of independent artists with whom he had once exhibited.

During the last decades of his long life, however, Ensor was recognized for the very works that were scorned years earlier. He was titled Baron by King Albert I, and his bust was placed in a square in Ostend, where he remained throughout his life. Ensor is now considered an important turn of the century artist. His individual revolt against conventional painting technique and his emphasis upon personal expression influenced the movements of both German Expressionism and Surrealism.

Vocabulary Terms

avant-garde--Describes new and innovative art or artists that depart from tradition to experiment with a new style, technique, or subject matter. From the French word for "vanguard."

expressionism--Generally, expressionism (with a lowercase "e") refers to any art that emphasizes strong emotions or feelings. Shortly before World War I, a group of artists in Germany set as their goal the depiction of emotional and psychological concerns of themselves and their times. Some of these German Expressionists (with an uppercase "E") used strong color contrasts, angular simplified forms, and heavy black outlines to express their anger and hostility; others explored color and abstraction to express spiritual or mystical ideas.

motif--A dominant theme, idea, or pattern in a work of art. Motifs are often repeated.

Surrealism--Movement in art and literature from 1924 to 1945 where artists attempted to give visual representation to dreams, fantasies, and the unconscious mind. Emphasized real objects in unreal situations, surprise, contradiction and shock.

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