The Elephant's Joke | MSK Gent
Ga naar inhoud (Enter)
Popular searches

The Elephant's Joke, 1888

  • etching, paper
  • 180 x 237 mm
  • Inv. 1998-B-51

Public Domain

Download PDF

The etching "The Elephant's Joke" is one of Ensor's most fantastic etchings. At the top left, a figure is poking into the eye of an elephant, which in turn has swallowed a figure and crushed another - possibly a crusader. At the same time, the elephant pushes with its strange trunk against the hindquarters of a standing figure in the middle, who, as a result of the shock, flies into another figure. Behind the latter lies a monstrous creature whose entire body is covered with pus. In the central plan on the right, a cannon is positioned to fire at an oncoming herd of elephants. The enigmatic character of the etching recalls the fantasy of Ensor's etchings The Cataclysms and Wizards in a Squall (inv. 1998-B-37 and 52).

Artist

James Ensor RKD VIAF Wikidata
Ostend 1860 - Ostend 1949
etchersAAT

Title The Elephant's Joke
Date 1888
Period 19th century
Medium and support etching AAT
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings signatures (names) bottom right: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Ensor</span></p>
signature, title and year bottom right: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">James Ensor 1888 / Les éléphants singuliers</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;">20 / D.51</span></p>
Collection print room
Object type etching AAT
Inventory number 1998-B-51
Acquisition credit purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.)
1998
Current whereabouts Work on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-51
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4062/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300056485 fantastic art AAT
Keywords Iconclass 24A sun as celestial body Iconclass
25F25(ELEPHANT) trunked animals: elephant Iconclass
26C winds Iconclass
31A2237 buttocks, 'partes posteriores' Iconclass
31A62 defecation Iconclass
31A621 flatulence Iconclass
31A71 male sex; man Iconclass
31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass
31D112 child Iconclass
46E411 flags flown from a mast Iconclass
49E2513 binoculars, spy-glass, etc. Iconclass
56B131 Joke; 'Giuoco (dall'antico)' (Ripa) 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. 51)
onder vrienden : 225 jaar verzamelaars rond het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 25.11.2023 - 28.04.2024) / Johan De Smet, Frederica Van Dam, Willy Van der Gucht, Manfred Sellink. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2023 ; Gent : De Vrienden van het Museum, 2023 (p. 40, cat. 44 (ill.))
Do you have any suggestions, questions or information about this work?
Write us, collectie.msk@stad.gent