In 1889 Ensor made a self-portrait after a photograph. In the photo he is standing in front of a window of the Rousseau family's house at 20 Rue Vautier in Brussels. With one arm resting on a windowsill and the other in the pocket of his jacket, he poses for the photographer. A woman, presumably Mariette Rousseau, is just visible through the window. On the first state of the etching "My portrait with a skull", of which a unique copy can be found in Mu.ZEE in Ostend, we see a fairly faithful copy of the photograph. In the second and third states, Ensor has stripped his face. Only his hair still adorns the skull, while his eyes, as in the photograph, look at the viewer. Behind the window, on the windowsill to the left, lies a skull, while the female figure has disappeared entirely.
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | My Portrait as a Skeleton |
| Date | 1889 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signatures (names) bottom left: ENSOR |
| signature and year bottom right, outside the depiction: James Ensor 1889 | |
| inscription bottom right: Mon portrait squelettisé | |
| inscription on the reverse: AT | |
| inscription on the reverse: D 67 | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-67-2 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-67-2 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4087/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300124534
self-portraits
AAT
300056485 fantastic art AAT 300189808 figures (representations) AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11R5
(personifications of) 'Vanitas', the vanity of human life; Fragilita humana, Fugacita delle grandezze della gloria mondana, Meditatione della morte, Opera vana, Piacere vano, Vana gloria, Vanita (Ripa)
Iconclass
22C5 reflection (light in general) Iconclass 31A21 (human) skeleton Iconclass 31A211 (human) skull Iconclass 31A2212 eyes Iconclass 31A2245 hand Iconclass 31A22621 hair Iconclass 31A231 standing figure Iconclass 31D14 adult man Iconclass 31F11 death's head, skull (symbol of Death) Iconclass 41A3321 closed window Iconclass 41D2121 coat Iconclass 48C513 portrait, self-portrait of painter Iconclass 61B2(JAMES ENSOR) historical person (JAMES ENSOR) Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) AAT Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT |
| Henri Leys, Henri de Braekeleer, James Ensor / Loys Delteil. - Paris : Chez l'Auteur, 1925 (nr. 67) |
| 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. 67) |
| James Ensor : Tekeningen en prenten / Robert Hoozee, Sabine Bown-Taevernier, Jan Frederik Heijbroek. - Antwerpen : Mercatorfonds, 1987 (p. 205, nr.14ob) |
| James Ensor ou la fantasmagorie / Michel Draguet. - Paris : Éditions Gallimard, 1999 (nr. 65) |
| 200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (p. 269 (ill. 126)) |
| James Ensor : Schrecken ohne Ende (Ausstellung Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum, 12. Oktober 2008 - 8. februar 2009) / Gerhard Finckh, Joachim Heusinger von Waldegg, Herwig Todts, Norbert Hostyn. - Wuppertal : Von der Heydt-Museum, 2008 |
| 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. 79, 127, cat. 11) |
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