James Ensor (1860-1949) Lot n° 1

Study sheet. Pencil drawing. Signed 'Ensor'. Framed. The period 1880-85 was a time of intense research and experimentation for the then 20-year-old Ensor. He was able to give free rein to this quest by making sketches. The sheet of paper was an arena and a laboratory where he tested and experimented, where he brought subjects together and entered into a seemingly carefree or unintentional dialogue with each other. He often directs his gaze to people and/or objects he encounters in his daily life in the house on the corner of Vlaanderenstraat and Noordstraat, populated by his immediate family and with the curiosity shop on the ground floor. One of the people he sees most often is his younger sister Mitche. On this sheet, her head is depicted at the top, her dreamy eyes turned downwards. The different elements or figures that end up on a sketch sheet do not necessarily have to be drawn in the same 'session', after all, there can be a lot of time between these different 'fills'. Two other elements/figures on this sheet, on both sides, the types and silhouettes of Ostend, are observations of life on the street, perhaps observed from his studio on the fourth floor of the house. In the middle, a figure (a coachman?) with a nozzle hat looks directly at the viewer, while to the right of this figure appears an equally typical hand study. All these elements gradually enter into a dialogue, so to speak, with each other, aided by the apparent carelessness with which they have been entrusted to the sheet. And this is the undeniable strength and fascination that emanates from these sketch sheets: we look over the shoulder of the young master as he searches for, draws and analyses elements and figures, and tries to grasp and hold onto the life around him. This feeling is here wonderfully reinforced by the condition of the sheet. The stains, the irregular borders, the small label at the bottom right - every element seems to interact and give a wonderful insight into the master's laboratory. 225 x 180 mm (550 x 450 mm) Lit.: P. Florizoone - W. Coppejans. James Ensor, Fragmenten en echo's. tekeningen 1873 - 1885. Antwerp, Ronny Van de Velde, 2018.