The Eclectic Art of James Ensor

Herwig Todts, Conservator of Modern Art at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, examines the eclectic nature of James Ensor's work and his creative process. The work of Ensor is so extremely varied that his oeuvre has been viewed by some as verging on incoherent. Ensor wrote many satirical texts, and through close analysis of these texts an explanation begins to emerge for this inconsistency: Ensor did it on purpose. He developed each of his artistic projects from a different starting point. Whether he was solving a stylistic problem or following a specific technique, the different artworks he produced as a result were impressively diverse.