Le Roi Peste (The Plague Kings) - Original Etching by James Ensor - 1895 1895

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The Plague Kings is an original etching on the Japanese paper, realized by James Ensor in 1895, signed on the … Read more The Plague Kings is an original etching on the Japanese paper, realized by James Ensor in 1895, signed on the plate and dated, unique state, with the second signature on the reverse and, inscribed: “à mon ami Léon Songuenet et que vivent Poe et Baudelaire”, ''To my friend Léon Songuenet and long live Poet Baudelaire” In good conditions, following Taevernier no states are known to exist. The etching was inserted in the deluxe edition of Gregoire Le Roy's book on Ensor (Van Oest & Co., Brussels, 1922). Edition of 55 prints on japan paper. Included a frame. This etching is presenting, peculiar figures seated around a table, there is a skeleton hanging from the ceiling. Ref. Taevernier, Auguste (1999). James Ensor. Belgium: Pandora/Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon, p. 247 no. 100. Skeleton and mask are the most important topic of Ensor artworks,he was fascinated by the dark and silenced skeleton and skulls and could express his art through observation of many skeletons in his studio, here this original etching is one of the precious results of this observation and deepening in the mysterious world of the dead. James Ensor (1860-1949), is a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on Expressionism and Surrealism. Ensor's early works, such as Russian Music (1881) and The Drunkards (1883), depict realistic scenes in a somber style, his palette subsequently brightened and he favored increasingly bizarre subject matter. Such paintings as The Scandalized Masks (1883) and Skeletons Fighting over a Hanged Man (1891) feature figures in grotesque masks inspired by the ones sold in his mother's gift shop for Ostend's annual Carnival. Subjects such as carnivals, masks, puppetry, skeletons, and fantastic allegories are dominant in Ensor's mature work. Ensor dressed skeletons up in his studio and arranged them in colorful, enigmatic tableaux on the canvas, and used masks as a theatrical aspect in his still lifes. Attracted by masks' plastic forms, bright colors, and potential for psychological impact, he created a format in which he could paint with complete freedom. Ensor was a prolific and accomplished printmaker. He created 133 etchings and drypoints over the course of his career, with 86 of them made between 1886 and 1891 during the height of Ensor's most creative period. Ensor himself recognized that the prints were a key part of his artistic legacy, stating in a letter to Albert Croquez in 1934: ''Yes, my intention is to go on working for a long time yet so that generations to come may hear me. My intention is to survive, and I think of the solid copper plate, the unalterable ink, easy reproduction, faithful prints, and I adopt etching as a means of expression See less