Customer Reviews

James Ensor

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This book is the catalogue for the current show at Moma. Being a lover of Ensor's gift as a colorist, I was a little disappointed with the quality of the reproductions: many of them are thumbnail sizes and, as far as the color plates of the exhibited works are concerned, they are somewhat dull and faded. Besides, Ensor's masterpiece, "The Entry of Christ in Brussels" (owned by the Getty Museum, which did not release it for the exhibition) is reproduced here in a thumbnail size, which completely anihilates the effect the huge painting usually has on the viewer. Even if it was not part of the exhibition, it deserved a better reproduction in the catalogue.

The value of this book mainly resides in the quality of the essays, which tackle such topics as Ensor as the painter of a fantasmagoric modern life, Ensor confronted to art history, Ensor and his own image, Ensor's vision of nature, etc.

In more than 10 years, this has been the first book in English on James Ensor, an unjustly overlooked figure of XXth art and a painter who inspired many artists after him, not least the Surrealists.

James Ensor is perhaps the most underrated artist of all the late 19th to early 20th century artists. His work progressed from (Northern) Impressionism to become the most innovative, least understood work of the times. His paintings of Masks as subconscious symbolism prefigured psychoanalysis
by decades,his use of painting as social critique was at least 20 years ahead of German Expressionism, his use of "outsider" idioms were again decades ahead of Art Brut, his work inspired late 20th century greats such as Philip Guston and Jim Nutt. This is the most comprehensive book that I have seen documenting the life and works of this Belgian master, Susan M. Canning's
essays are very insightful(as are all the essays) and the quantity and quality of the reproductions make this book indispensable for any library of Modern Art.

Difficult to review this book as I have read it while on an extended stay in NYC wherein the exhibition which it accompanies is being shown at the Museum for Modern Art. I have been able to spend substantial time with the pictures herein discussed. As to Ensor, I would say only that the range of his subject matter and methods is customarily neglected in favor of concentration on his "mask" pictures and the light palette he adopted for their presentation. In fact, he was creative in paint, drawing and prints, and a master in each as well as being among the best in satire. Unfortunately, there appear to be few, if any, other major retrospectives in the United States leaving most to rely upon the available texts.
For the many who will not get to see this exhibition, although it seems to be drawing an appreciable audience from around the world, I believe the monograph will serve as a useful orientation to his work. There are about half dozen essays by noted experts which are valuable and a broad range of reproductions in color and black/white. Nearly all pictures colored in the original are colored in the book. Discussion of the pictures is enlightening while the pictures provide good illustration for the essays since their exact locations in the volume are precisely designated.
I should note that the exhibition limits itself to two decades (of his very long life and career). The monograph provides sufficient information on the other years to serve the average person's needs, particularly since, like his French contemporary, Vuillard, he never married and lived most of his life traveling little and resident with his family
For those unfamiliar with his work, the volume, at Amazon's price, will be a bargain introduction with sufficient depth to intrigue and with a lack of technical or pretentious language which will please. Those with more familiarity with his work should find it a profitable review of his most productive years.
The book was produced by the Museum and meets the high standard that they set.

Terrific book of exceptional artist. Didn't get to see recent exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC so this book of it has excellent reproductions of the works .