James Ensor @ The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), NY

James Ensor (Belgian, 1860–1949), Self-Portrait with Masks. 1899. Oil on canvas 47 1/4 x 31 1/2" (120 x 80 cm) Menard Art Museum, Komaki City. Photo credit: Menard Art Museum, Komaki City © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SABAM, Brussels

NEW YORk, NY.- James Ensor (Belgian, 1860–1949) was a major figure in the Belgian avant-garde of the late nineteenth century and an important precursor to the development of Expressionism in the early twentieth. In both respects, he has influenced generations of later artists. This exhibition of approximately 95 of Ensor’s paintings, drawings, and prints will produce a complete picture of his daring, experiential body of work. Key issues that will be elucidated are the artist’s contribution to modernity, his innovative and allegorical use of light, his prominent use of satire, his deep interest in carnival and performance, and his own self-fashioning and use of masking, travesty, and role-playing. Ultimately, this exhibition presents Ensor as a socially engaged and self-critical artist involved with the issues of his times and with contemporary debates on the nature of modernism.

The exhibition is organized by Anna Swinbourne, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art,

James Ensor (Belgian, 1860–1949), Masks Mocking Death. 1888. Oil on canvas 32 x 39 1/2" (81.3 x 100.3 cm) The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. Photo credit: Thomas Griesel, Department of Imaging Services, The Museum of Modern Art, New York © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SABAM, Brussels