James Ensor (1860-1949) : Theatre Masks

The Belgian symbolist painter and engraver, James Ensor, was a major pioneer of Expressionism.

This book accompanies the first British exhibition to be devoted to Ensor since the exhibition of his works in 1946 at the National Gallery in London.

Ensor, whose father was British, studied in Brussels but seldom left the town of his birth, Ostend.

This book covers the full scope of the artist's career, setting the scene with early work made in his hometown Ostend, and then focussing on significant themes, in particular: the development of Ensor's visionary landscapes; his identification with the figure of Christ; his satirical work, and his relationship to British artists such as Cruickshank, Rowlandson and Gillray; and his late work, with a reassessment of his development as an artist after 1900.

As well as essays covering these particular themes in the artist's career, the book also contains extracts from Ensor's own writings.

This beautifully illustrated book will be a major contribution to studies on Ensor, one of the most individual and highly influential artists working at the turn of the century.