Antique Head 1877 - 1879

James Ensor created this pencil drawing titled ‘Antique Head’. Ensor spent his entire life in Ostend, Belgium. His art often reflected the unique cultural milieu of this coastal town. ‘Antique Head’ provides an interesting counterpoint to the carnivalesque imagery that would later define Ensor's mature work. In many ways, he was an outsider who critiqued Belgian society through his art. This classical head seems to be at odds with his more eccentric pieces, but consider the artist’s social position as an individual living in a time of great social change. Ensor was part of the avant-garde art group Les XX. His art reflects anxieties about identity and social norms. He has a penchant for the grotesque, and an exploration of themes related to death and decay. Consider how this drawing of an antique head serves as a means to explore timeless themes of mortality and representation in a rapidly modernizing world.