Masks 1938

James Ensor made Masks with oil on canvas, and you can see how the pastel palette—pinks, blues, greens—creates this swirling, almost dizzying effect. Imagine him, brush in hand, building up the layers, each stroke adding to the chaos and energy of the scene. I picture Ensor diving into this carnival of faces, maybe feeling a bit overwhelmed himself. Look at the way he renders each mask with such distinct character, some are joyful and others are kind of creepy. The paint is applied in thick impasto, so that it feels almost sculptural and emphasizes the physical presence of these figures. There's this one figure in the center with a blue face and piercing gaze. It feels like Ensor is using that gesture, that expression, to convey a deeper emotion, maybe a sense of alienation or unease beneath the surface of all the revelry. He was definitely onto something. It reminds me of other painters like Grosz who used carnival imagery to capture a sense of unease. It reminds you that artists are always riffing off each other, responding to the world around them, and creating something new. Painting is about uncertainty, ambiguity, and that’s what makes it exciting.