In Ostend, Flanders, discovering James Ensor

Flanders’ Stay at Home Museum project continues: on the occasion of the fourth installment, the virtual tour virtually takes the audience to Ostend to discover James Ensor.

The virtual tour is led by Mieke Mels, curator of Mu.ZEE, the port city’s museum of modern art that currently has as many as sixteen of the artist’s works from the Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), which is closed for restoration.

Ostend is Ensor’s hometown, where the artist developed his obsessive passion for crowds and the sea: the city overlooks the North Sea and, while in the past it constituted a small fishing village, today it is a popular seaside and gastronomic destination and a starting point for discovering the Belgian coast. To stroll through the streets of Ostend is to discover the landscapes, vistas and atmospheres of the artist’s works.

Ensor depicts agrotesque and deformed humanity, and his recurring subjects are masks and the skeleton, through which he offers abitter critique of politics, the armed forces and religion.

The appointment with James Ensor is at 7 p.m. April 29 on the Flemish Masters 2018-2020 Facebook channel. This will be followed by an exclusive Questions & Answers moment open to all users.

Image: James Ensor, The Intrigue (1890; Antwerpen, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten),

In Ostend, Flanders, discovering James Ensor

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