Copy after Honoré Daumier 

James Ensor created this drawing, "Copy after Honoré Daumier," with red chalk, echoing Daumier's acute social observations. Here, we see a figure, mouth agape in a yell. It is the voice of the common man—raw, unfiltered, and demanding attention. The open mouth as a symbol is ancient. Think of the Roman orator, Cicero, whose powerful speeches, immortalized in busts with parted lips, shaped public opinion. Now, consider the silent scream in Munch's "The Scream," where the open mouth becomes a vortex of existential dread, a mirror reflecting modern anxiety. Here, in Ensor's interpretation, the scream carries a different weight. It reflects the social unrest witnessed by Daumier, a visual echo resonating through time, transformed by Ensor’s hand into a visceral expression of outrage. It’s a primal urge to be heard.