Pierrot and Skeleton in a Yellow Robe, 1893

In Pierrot and Skeleton in a Yellow Robe Ensor managed to combine his interest for the still life and his predilection for travesty in a rather original manner. The still life-like setting is transgressed. As a result, the painting takes on a fantastic character and ‘dead objects’ function like living organisms. From a stylistic point of view this work is also very characteristic of Ensor. During the 1890s Ensor liked to paint on smaller canvases. In these more intimate works the graphic element is more obvious, as is the case in this painting. The colours are clear and fresh, thus tempering the subject’s morbid dimension to some extent, in favour of the grotesque and the fantastic. In this work imagination, the clear use of colour and Ensor’s technical potential all come together marvellously.