Flagellation 1921

James Ensor made "Flagellation" with chalk. It's all in one color, like a memory fading or a dream half-remembered. Ensor's got this scratchy, nervous line going on, which gives the whole scene a sense of unease. The figures are all tangled up, and you can barely tell what's happening. It’s like he’s not trying to show us the actual event, but more like the feeling of chaos and cruelty. Check out the way he uses the chalk. It’s light in some spots, and then really dark and dense in others. Those darker areas feel heavy, like shadows closing in. And the way the lines are all scribbled and messy? It's like the violence is exploding right off the page. I'm reminded of Goya's etchings, that same darkness, that same feeling that something's not quite right with the world. Art's not always pretty, sometimes it's a scream.