Party Making Music 1877

James Ensor’s drawing “Party Making Music” captures a scene with a musician and a small group of people. Ensor was a Belgian artist who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period of immense social and political change in Europe. Here, Ensor gives us a glimpse into the private lives of a social gathering. The musician, dressed in a flamboyant costume, stands as the focal point, suggesting an engagement with performance and identity. The surrounding figures, possibly women and children, are rendered with a delicate touch. Ensor’s interest in masks and masquerades might reflect on the constructed nature of identity and the performative aspects of social interactions. Ensor may be inviting us to reflect on the roles we play and the faces we present to the world. The drawing provides a subtle critique of the performative aspects of bourgeois society.