Dress Up Ball in the Munt 

James Ensor, who lived between 1860 and 1949, made this drawing called 'Dress Up Ball in the Munt', using pencil on paper. This drawing, with its quick and nervous lines, offers us a peek into the masquerade balls popular during Ensor’s time. It's hard not to read these gatherings as more than just innocent fun. They are complex social rituals, where people from different classes mixed, hidden behind masks, in a brief suspension of social hierarchies. Consider the women depicted. Their bodies are stylized and their faces obscured. Do they become liberated or further objectified by the anonymity the masquerade provides? Ensor, who often felt like an outsider, was deeply interested in the tension between appearance and reality. He once said, "My intention was never to paint only beautiful things. I wanted to explore all aspects of life". Through Ensor’s eyes, we see the ball as both a spectacle of liberation and a stage for societal critique. The figures blur, inviting us to reflect on how social environments shape identity and experience.