Belgian painter, printmaker and draughtsman. No single label adequately
describes the visionary work produced by Ensor between 1880 and 1900, his
most productive period. His pictures from that time have both Symbolist
and Realist aspects, and in spite of his dismissal of the Impressionists
as ‘superficial daubers’ he was profoundly concerned with the effects of
light. His imagery and technical procedures anticipated the colouristic
brilliance and violent impact of Fauvism and German Expressionism and the
psychological fantasies of Surrealism. Ensor’s most memorable and
influential work was almost exclusively produced before 1900, but he was
largely unrecognized before the 1920s in his own country. His work was
highly influential in Germany, however: Emil Nolde visited him in 1911,
and was influenced by his use of masks; Paul Klee mentions him admiringly
in his diaries; Erich Heckel came to see him in the middle of the war and
painted his portrait (1930; Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Mus.); Alfred Kubin
owned several of his prints, while Marc Chagall and George Grosz also
adapted certain elements from Ensor. All the artists of the Cobra group
saw him as a master. He influenced many Belgian artists including Léon
Spilliaert, Rik Wouters, Constant Permeke, Frits van den Berghe, Paul
Delvaux and Pierre Alechinsky.
