James Ensor's Massive Menace, Minute Malign Fantasies on Display at the Getty

89.3 KPCC
By Marc Haefele

(The Man of Sorrows, James Ensor. Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp/Lukas-Art/Hugo Maertens/ARS, SABAM)

CALIFORNIA---Of all the artists of over a century ago, James Ensor would probably have done best in Zap Comix. While Ensor respected — or perhaps a better word would be “pitied” — Jesus Christ, he detested every one of the authorities that bound up the young nation of Belgium into which he was born — a kingdom created only 29 years before his own birth in 1860. Like the “The Man of Sorrows,” a small oil painting in which Jesus’ face, far from sad, shows a tear-your-throat-out rage. The usual religious expectation is again and again reversed: Devils defeat angels in mortal combat, and elsewhere, like friendly old pals, those demons lead Christ into Hell. But even if it isn’t perfect, “The Scandalous Art of James Ensor” certainly is sufficiently scandalous — and a very fine thing to see. [link]

The Getty Center: “The Scandalous Art of James Ensor” (Ends September 7, 2014);1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA; getty.edu; (310) 440-7300

"Christ’s Entry into Brussels," by James Ensor, the centerpiece of
"The Scandalous Art of James Ensor," at the Getty Center through Sept. 7.