Ensor, James (1860-1949)
Nature morte dans l’atelier (Still life in the studio)
1889
Oil on canvas, 83 x 113.5 cm
Neue Pinakothek, Munich
James Sidney Ensor‘s “Still Life” is more than the usual realistic studio study that is so often encountered in the 19th century. The arrangement of painting utensils, articulated puppet, skull and masks is probably more to be understood as a demonic allegory of art haunted by visions, whereby the dead things have taken on a peculiarly unsettling liveliness. The line between reality and hallucination is deliberately blurred. The light, cold colors have something foul shimmering. There is a mood of tense nervousness, which is reflected not least in the dense, short, vibrating brushstrokes that spin over the canvas like a fabric. The edge of the picture overlaps the approaching forms, so that one expects new uncanny apparitions beyond the boundaries of the picture. (Neue Pinakothek)