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Manic canvas

James Sidney Ensor rejected impressionism and pioneered movements such as surrealism and neo expressionism

CONTROVERSIAL ARTIST The Descent of Christ into Hell, an etching by Ensor

Born on April 13, 1860, James Sidney Ensor was one of the first fin de siécle (turn of the century) artists to break away from the prettiness of impressionism. Son of an English father and Belgian mother, Ensor spent his childhood in his parents' souvenir shop in Ostend, a fishing village on the Belgian coast. The shop, with its puppets, masks and seashells, are a recurring theme in Ensor's paintings. He left Ostend for only three years (1877 to 1880) to study history and religious painting at Academie de Bruxelles. He started painting early and by the age of 21 was exhibiting impressionist seascapes at the Brussels salon. When the prestigious Paris salon accepted his paintings a year later, it seemed he was his way to the stratosphere.

But then Ensor rejected the impressionist style for a dramatic style characterised by aggressive brushwork in place of the delicate pointillism; bright, garish colours in place of the pretty pastels; and bizarre and macabre figures sporting carnival masks. He took inspiration from earlier Flemish painters such as Hieronymous Bosch and Peter Brueghel the Elder. His fortunes changed dramatically for the worse and his paintings were rejected, receiving scathing reviews.

Ensor reacted to the rejection with a rage which exploded on canvas. He produced a prodigious body of work with the crown of his creation, Christ's Entry into Brussels, completed when he was only 28. The painting, an ironic depiction of the second coming of Jesus Christ, reveals rows and rows of humanity at a Mardi Gras parade. Though the parade is for Christ, there are others who want to make most of the moment. There are advertisements and banners implying gross commercialisation, the malaise of society. Ensor's Christ is the archetypal outsider about to be crucified for not conforming. Ensor identified so much with the Christ figure that he painted Christ in his image. When Ensor submitted the painting to Les Vingts, a society of artists, poets and thinkers he had established, there was uproar. The painting was considered scandalous and he was saved from expulsion by one vote — his own. The feeling of persecution fed the creative flame and Ensor painted more and more provocative works. Then he retired to his souvenir shop where he lived quietly in the shadow of The Entry... The painting was with Ensor till 1929.

Ironically, as he earned worldwide acclaim, his creativity died out. He was made baron and a book was published about him in 1908. Though he painted till he died on November 19, 1949, the fires that fuelled his manic canvases seem to have been doused by acceptance and acclaim. An ulcer and his family's refusal to let him marry the woman he loved tormented Ensor.

He produced a considerable amount of etchings and also designed sets for ballets. He is considered the father of movements like surrealism, dada expressionism and neo expressionism.

MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER

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