In the print Peculiar Insects, Ensor refers to a passage from "Die Launen der Verliebten" by Henrich Heine, in which a beetle is in love with a fly. The dragonfly on the left, with Mariette Rousseau's head, looks in the direction of a beetle with Ensor's head, which is staring shyly ahead. With this print Ensor is probably alluding to an intimate relationship he had with Mariette. Her image appears in various works together with that of Ensor. The print was probably based on a photo from 1888, in which they are posing together in the garden of the building at the rue Vautier nr. 20 in Brussels. In the article "Ensor intime", published in the magazine La Plume in 1898, Blanche Rousseau, a cousin of the family, told of a meeting at the home of the Rousseaus, where Ernest Rousseau junior read a passage from Heine's "Die Launen der Verliebten" in the presence of Ensor. Five states of this drypoint exist in which Ensor provided the dragonfly with the long abdomen and elaborated the beetle. He also added a second beetle and a figure in the building on the right.
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | Peculiar Insects |
| Date | 1888 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | drypoint AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signatures (names) top left: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Ensor</span></p> |
| signature and year bottom right: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Ensor 88</span></p> | |
| signature and year bottom right: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">James Ensor 1888</span></p> | |
| inscription on the reverse: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">AT</span></p> | |
| inscription on the reverse: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Les insectes singuliers / pointe sèche [...] / [...]</span></p> | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | drypoint AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-46 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-46 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4056/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300056485
fantastic art
AAT
300124534 self-portraits AAT 300189808 figures (representations) AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
25F711(BEETLE)
insects: beetle
Iconclass
25F711(DRAGON-FLY) insects: dragon-fly Iconclass 25F711(FLY) insects: fly Iconclass 33C8 amorousness, desire Iconclass 41A housing Iconclass 41A1 civic architecture; edifices; dwellings Iconclass 41A3311 open window Iconclass 41A6 garden Iconclass 48B3 portrait, self-portrait of artist Iconclass 56F1 Desire; 'Desiderio' (Ripa) Iconclass 56F13 (Feeling of) Attraction Iconclass 56FF22 Unrequited Love Iconclass 61B2(HEINRICH HEINE) historical person (HEINRICH HEINE) Iconclass 61B2(JAMES ENSOR) historical person (JAMES ENSOR) Iconclass 61BB2 historical persons - BB - woman Iconclass 61BB2(ROUSSEAU, Mariette) historical person (ROUSSEAU, Mariette) - BB - woman Iconclass 61E(BRUSSELS) names of cities and villages (BRUSSELS) Iconclass 61F(RUE VAUTIER) names of historical buildings, sites, streets, etc. (RUE VAUTIER) Iconclass 83(HEINE, Die Launen der Verliebten) (scenes from) specific works of literature (HEINE, Die Launen der Verliebten) Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) AAT |
| James Ensor : Catalogue illustré de ses gravures ; Leur description critique et l'inventaire des plaques = Geïllustreerde catalogus van zijn gravures ; Hun kritische beschrijving en inventaris van de platen = Illustrated catalogue of his engravings ; Their critical description and inventary of the plates / Auguste Taevernier. - Ledeberg (Gent) : Erasmus Boekhandel bv Amsterdam, 1973 (nr. 46) |
| Kunstenaarsportretten (uit Antwerpen, Brugge en Gent : tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 26 mei - 19 augustus 2007) / Dorine Cardyn-Oomen, Nanny Schrijvers, Monique Tahon-Vanroose. - Gent : Vlaamse Kunstcollectie, 2007 (p. 74-75, nr. 81 (ill.)) |
| Onder de loep : Kunstenaars en wetenschappers op ontdekkingstocht in Genk (1800-1914) (tentoonstelling Genk, Emile van Dorenmuseum, 26.05.2013 - 17.11.2013) / Kristof Reulens. - Genk : Emile Van Dorenmuseum, 2013 |
| Tristan Tzara : L'homme approximatif ; poète - écrivain d'art - collectionneur (exposition Strasbourg, Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg, 24.09.2015 - 17.01.2016) / Serge Fauchereau, Henri Béhar, Hélène Besnier, Eugen Simion. - Strasbourg : Musées de la Ville de Strasbourg, 2015 |
| Simryn Gill : de (hemi)cyclus van bladeren en papier = l'(hémi)cycle de feuilles et papier = the (hemi)cycle of leaves and paper (tentoonstelling Gent , Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 22.04 - 04.09.2016) / Catherine De Zegher, Jan Braet. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2016 (p. 14) |
| James Ensor : An Intimate Portrait (exhibition New York, Gladstone Gallery, 06.11.2021 - 15.01.2022) / Sabine Taevernier, Herwig Todts, Xavier Tricot, Susan Maria Canning. - New York City : Gladstone Gallery, 2021 (p. 72-73, 126) |
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