James Ensor: Carnival and Death

Pierrot and Skeletons

O James Ensor (1860-1949)ήταν Βέλγος ζωγράφος που ασχολήθηκε μια περίοδο της ζωής του με αλλόκοτη και μακάβρια θεματολογία. Σε αυτούς τους πίνακες κυριαρχούσαν μορφές με φανταχτερά χρώματα, με παράξενες και αλλόκοτες μάσκες καρναβαλιού και θεάτρου, μαζί με σκελετούς και φονικά που πιθανότατα αποτελούσαν φανταστικές αλληγορίες, δοσμένες με ειρωνικό τρόπο, διαφόρων καταστάσεων, αναμονής ή απειλής θανάτου, κλπ. Σε μερικά του έργα θίγει με πολύ ωμό τρόπο εκκλησία και εξουσία από αναρχική σκοπιά.

Masks and Death

The Assassination

James Ensor (1860-1949) was a Belgian painter who dealt with bizarre subject matter during a period of his carrier. Such paintings 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. (wikipedia)

Skeleton Musicians

Masks Confronting Death

Masks and Death

The Deadly Sins Dominated by Death

Skeletons fighting over a picked herring

The Dangerous Cooks

Skeletons Fighting for the Body of a Hanged Man


Death Chasing the Flock of Mortals

The Banquet of the Starved

Skeletons Trying to Warm Themselves

The Red Judge

The Great Judge

The Wise Judges

The Doctrinal Nourishment

The Skeleton Painter