He also painted controversial subjects, such as The Entry of Christ into Brussels. This shows even Christ powerless against the many masked figures who surround him, who symbolize deceit. Jesus is in the center of the picture sitting on a donkey, and the swarms of people pay no attention to him. The read banner says "Vive la Sociale," meaning "long live the socialist state." This painting was considered sacrilegious because it showed Christ powerless against the atrocities of man, which was unforgivable to many people in 1886, when it was painted. Ensor felt rejected by others and society, and many of his paintings reflect this. His constant use of the mask showed how he felt others were full of deception. The painting Self-Portrait Surrounded by Masks, produced in 1899, displays the artist's head surrounded by a sea of various masks. The masks represent falseness and deception, and it became one of his primary symbols. Throughout his life he was mostly in isolation, and the masks are in many of his paintings, whether on people, or standing alone. The similar painting Old Woman With Masks shows an old woman surrounded by masks. She is blissfully unaware of the treachery around her, displaying Ensor's distrust of society. Angriness at critics is shown is 1890's Ensor and General Leman Discussing Painting. The General, whom with Ensor had frequent quarrels about art, is pointing a gun at Ensor. Ensor, on the other hand, is armed with a palette and is pointing a brush at Leman. Ensor's most lasting influences would certainly have to be the steps he took towards expressionism and surrealism. At his time, he was as an "advanced" a painter as Vincent Van Gogh, a fellow member of The Twenty, but a less controversial one. Though he painted many landscapes and still lifes, none of these are as well known as his bizarre and grotesque works with masks and demons. At his time, people disliked him not because of the strange paintings but because he refused to follow traditional rules of form and color. Today, Ensor is virtually unknown outside of Belgium. This is mostly because the Belgian government has kept most of his work inside Belgium, with very little of it going to foreign museums. UP


This timeline has events from his life and others going on in the world at the same time.