Belgium 2nd page
in addition to Magritte.
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
Chronology : 1891 1892 1936 1941
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
Chronology : 1891 1892 1936 1941
ENSOR
1
masterpiece
1888 L'Entrée du Christ à Bruxelles en 1889
Getty
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1891 Squelette arrêtant Masques
2016 SOLD for € 7.4M by Sotheby's
The expression of social mockery by pictorial art cannot be welcomed by the public at the end of the 19th century. James Ensor behaves in the opposite to any other artist. When he sees his works refused in exhibitions, he withdraws to his hometown of Ostend where he chooses the most suitable themes to shock the bourgeois. Many years later, when he will become famous and recognized, he will also stop painting.
The young artist is a very good connoisseur of ancient art. The Entrance of Christ in Brussels, painted in 1889, is an anarchist-inspired crowd scene in a theme in the follow of Bosch and Bruegel.
Ensor lives for his art without providing information about his private life, but he likes to introduce his real image amidst the carnival masks. The danses macabres (dances of death) inspire him and his skeletons are indeed self-portraits. He is tall and handsome. The hussar with a dead's head who dominates the other characters in the scene is him again.
James Ensor introduces in his art riddles and messages to be decoded. The small oil on canvas 16 x 21 cm entitled Squelettes se disputant un hareng (skeletons contesting a herring) painted in 1891 is a masterpiece of Surrealism a quarter of a century before the creation of that movement. There is no difference in French pronunciation between hareng saur and Art Ensor.
An oil on canvas 30 x 51 cm has just surfaced. Entitled Squelette arrêtant masques (skeleton stopping masks), this oil on canvas had long been kept by the artist who gave it to a friend. Emile Verhaeren had listed it in Ensor's studio in 1908 but it had never been photographed or exhibited. It was sold for € 7.4M from a lower estimate of € 1M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2016, lot 11.
Squelette arrêtant masques was painted in 1891 and displays high similarities in style with Squelettes se disputant un hareng : the characters are seen half length leaving all the top part of the picture for a superb Ostend sky.
The scene shows seven masks typical of the carnival of Ostend opposed to the hussar who manages to repel them. Their opposition is social : we do not know which sordid truth every mask can hide or which actual role the good bourgeois of Ostend wishes to play during the carnival. The soldier's skull shows his reality, it is the opposite of the mask. This skeleton lives his own life within a derisory and rejectable world, as the artist himself is doing.
Squelette arrêtant masques is signed ENSOR accompanied by a red ace of spades that seems single in the art of Ensor and has not been explained. In my opinion, this ace designates the artist as the champion of his own dissenting opinions. The spades card (in French : pique) is a military symbol that reinforces the identification of the hussar as a self-portrait. Red is the symbol of the revolution for the socialists.
The young artist is a very good connoisseur of ancient art. The Entrance of Christ in Brussels, painted in 1889, is an anarchist-inspired crowd scene in a theme in the follow of Bosch and Bruegel.
Ensor lives for his art without providing information about his private life, but he likes to introduce his real image amidst the carnival masks. The danses macabres (dances of death) inspire him and his skeletons are indeed self-portraits. He is tall and handsome. The hussar with a dead's head who dominates the other characters in the scene is him again.
James Ensor introduces in his art riddles and messages to be decoded. The small oil on canvas 16 x 21 cm entitled Squelettes se disputant un hareng (skeletons contesting a herring) painted in 1891 is a masterpiece of Surrealism a quarter of a century before the creation of that movement. There is no difference in French pronunciation between hareng saur and Art Ensor.
An oil on canvas 30 x 51 cm has just surfaced. Entitled Squelette arrêtant masques (skeleton stopping masks), this oil on canvas had long been kept by the artist who gave it to a friend. Emile Verhaeren had listed it in Ensor's studio in 1908 but it had never been photographed or exhibited. It was sold for € 7.4M from a lower estimate of € 1M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2016, lot 11.
Squelette arrêtant masques was painted in 1891 and displays high similarities in style with Squelettes se disputant un hareng : the characters are seen half length leaving all the top part of the picture for a superb Ostend sky.
The scene shows seven masks typical of the carnival of Ostend opposed to the hussar who manages to repel them. Their opposition is social : we do not know which sordid truth every mask can hide or which actual role the good bourgeois of Ostend wishes to play during the carnival. The soldier's skull shows his reality, it is the opposite of the mask. This skeleton lives his own life within a derisory and rejectable world, as the artist himself is doing.
Squelette arrêtant masques is signed ENSOR accompanied by a red ace of spades that seems single in the art of Ensor and has not been explained. In my opinion, this ace designates the artist as the champion of his own dissenting opinions. The spades card (in French : pique) is a military symbol that reinforces the identification of the hussar as a self-portrait. Red is the symbol of the revolution for the socialists.
3
1892 Les Poissardes Mélancoliques
2015 SOLD for $ 7M by Sotheby's
James Ensor was born in a fantastic world. His parents run a souvenir shop in Ostend where they sold grotesque masks for the carnival. The young man was working in their attic where he could at leisure reconstitute macabre scenes in the style of the Renaissance.
He spent nearly his whole life in Ostend. The recognition of his art was long and hard in this provincial town where nobody was paying attention to his first colorful paintings close to the beginning of impressionism. His hatred of social conventions generated a period of intense creativity that lasted from 1888 to 1892.
He painted in 1889 his masterpiece, the Entry of Christ into Brussels, which is a diversion of the carnivals from Bruegel on which the crowd of masked characters is now waving revolutionary slogans.
On November 5, 2015, Sotheby's sold Les Poissardes mélancoliques for $ 7M from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 19.
This oil on canvas 110 x 80 cm painted in 1892 features two old women seated in an interior lined with trinkets. It is easy to appreciate why they are melancholic. Nothing remains from their fish trade excepted a mackerel shredded by the cat and a crab shell.
A niche with a proverb is inserted in the back wall, as in the old Dutch interior scenes. It is populated by three skulls with aggressive jaws. A sign marked with a slogan springs from this place as a challenge to the well-thinking bourgeoisie of Ostend: "Death to them! They ate too much fish!".
He spent nearly his whole life in Ostend. The recognition of his art was long and hard in this provincial town where nobody was paying attention to his first colorful paintings close to the beginning of impressionism. His hatred of social conventions generated a period of intense creativity that lasted from 1888 to 1892.
He painted in 1889 his masterpiece, the Entry of Christ into Brussels, which is a diversion of the carnivals from Bruegel on which the crowd of masked characters is now waving revolutionary slogans.
On November 5, 2015, Sotheby's sold Les Poissardes mélancoliques for $ 7M from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 19.
This oil on canvas 110 x 80 cm painted in 1892 features two old women seated in an interior lined with trinkets. It is easy to appreciate why they are melancholic. Nothing remains from their fish trade excepted a mackerel shredded by the cat and a crab shell.
A niche with a proverb is inserted in the back wall, as in the old Dutch interior scenes. It is populated by three skulls with aggressive jaws. A sign marked with a slogan springs from this place as a challenge to the well-thinking bourgeoisie of Ostend: "Death to them! They ate too much fish!".
4
1892 Le Désespoir de Pierrot
2009 SOLD for € 5M by Christie's
Ensor is an artist of the social mockery long before the caricatures by Grosz and long before the surrealists. Painted in 1892, Le Désespoir de Pierrot, also titled Pierrot le Jaloux, anticipates the mournful clowns from Picasso's blue period.
Pierrot is here portrayed with the face lines of a friend of the artist, with an expression of melancholy. Featured as an Ecce Homo facing vindication, he is surrounded by a crowd of masked characters. All of them are reprimanding Pierrot for his depraved life in contradiction with his white jacket. A pimp and a pawnbroker await for some compensation. Figures without masks includes the oncle of the main character and the sister of the artist.
The reason of Pierrot's jealousy is revealed in the background by Harlequin's love escapade with Colombina. Also in the background Pierrot and Ensor are staged after the story of Pulcinello's hump as a surgeon trying to remove madness from the head of the marginalized artist.
This oil on canvas 117 x 167 cm was sold for € 5M from a lower estimate of € 2M by Christie's on February 23, 2009, lot 17 in the sale of the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection.
Pierrot is here portrayed with the face lines of a friend of the artist, with an expression of melancholy. Featured as an Ecce Homo facing vindication, he is surrounded by a crowd of masked characters. All of them are reprimanding Pierrot for his depraved life in contradiction with his white jacket. A pimp and a pawnbroker await for some compensation. Figures without masks includes the oncle of the main character and the sister of the artist.
The reason of Pierrot's jealousy is revealed in the background by Harlequin's love escapade with Colombina. Also in the background Pierrot and Ensor are staged after the story of Pulcinello's hump as a surgeon trying to remove madness from the head of the marginalized artist.
This oil on canvas 117 x 167 cm was sold for € 5M from a lower estimate of € 2M by Christie's on February 23, 2009, lot 17 in the sale of the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection.
van RYSSELBERGHE
1
1889 La Partie de Tennis
2020 SOLD for € 5.2M by Christie's
In 1886 in Paris, Théo van Rysselberghe visits the eighth impressionist exhibition. He is keenly interested in the new effects demonstrated by Un dimanche après-midi à l'Ile de la Grande Jatte and meets Seurat and Signac.
Van Rysselberghe was also inspired by frequent stays in Morocco. He sees like Signac the possibility of using the divisionist technique to accentuate the impression of light. His dots will be broad, with a preeminence of light over the details of the line.
On June 4, 2020, Christie's sold for € 5.2M from a lower estimate of € 2M an oil on canvas 54 x 67 cm painted in 1889, lot 344, titled A Thuin ou La Partie de Tennis.
The theme of this scene is a game with tennis rackets in a park. The playground is bordered by large trees. The two women wear long dresses for their occupation which is not a sport but an entertainment. The pointillist blur also leaves a doubt about the nature of this game, probably a jeu de volant. A little girl watches, cautiously back from the action.
The family of Marie Monnom, who became Théo's wife in the same year, was renting a country house in Thuin, near Charleroi. Marie is probably one of the two women in this picture.
The colors are unreal, to better accentuate the contrasts of light. An influence from the Japanese prints is likely. Van Rysselberghe had managed in 1887 to capture the confidence of Toulouse-Lautrec who was the first owner of this painting.
Van Rysselberghe was also inspired by frequent stays in Morocco. He sees like Signac the possibility of using the divisionist technique to accentuate the impression of light. His dots will be broad, with a preeminence of light over the details of the line.
On June 4, 2020, Christie's sold for € 5.2M from a lower estimate of € 2M an oil on canvas 54 x 67 cm painted in 1889, lot 344, titled A Thuin ou La Partie de Tennis.
The theme of this scene is a game with tennis rackets in a park. The playground is bordered by large trees. The two women wear long dresses for their occupation which is not a sport but an entertainment. The pointillist blur also leaves a doubt about the nature of this game, probably a jeu de volant. A little girl watches, cautiously back from the action.
The family of Marie Monnom, who became Théo's wife in the same year, was renting a country house in Thuin, near Charleroi. Marie is probably one of the two women in this picture.
The colors are unreal, to better accentuate the contrasts of light. An influence from the Japanese prints is likely. Van Rysselberghe had managed in 1887 to capture the confidence of Toulouse-Lautrec who was the first owner of this painting.
2
1892 Barques de Pêche
2020 SOLD for $ 9.1M by Christie's
Paul Signac uses the divisionist principles to show the seascapes in the brightest sunshine. After Brittany, he validates his theories in the Mediterranean shores by spending the spring of 1889 in Cassis. A view of Cap Canaille was sold for $ 14M by Christie's on November 6, 2007.
Seurat's untimely death in 1891 was a shock. Signac and Van Rysselberghe are organizing two exhibitions in his memory, in Brussels and in Paris. After the opening of the Paris exhibition in March 1892, they manage to change their minds by taking a cruise in the Mediterranea.
The two friends meet in Bordeaux on the Olympia, the small sailing boat that Signac had bought in the previous year. They reach the Mediterranea by the Canal du Midi. Théo van Rysselberghe paints several oils on canvas in the style of Signac, making of course great use of the cobalt blue.
On July 10, 2020, Christie's sold for $ 9.1M from a lower estimate of $ 7M a view of the coast, probably near Cette, titled Barques de pêche, 63 x 84 cm including the liner painted by the artist, lot 59. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Grande Bleue is shown with a pattern of oblique lines that simulate the waves, while several rows of sails move away in a skillfully balanced composition. The use of complementary colors, orange and blue, yellow and violet, complies with Seurat's precepts.
The artist's frame is frequent in the work of van Rysselberghe at that period. It is painted as a decorative abstraction that echoes the pointillism. It is also present on the view of the Scheldt, painted in the same year probably after the trip, sold for £ 8.5M by Sotheby's in 2017.
The cruise ends in early May in Saint-Tropez, the small port which was not yet accessible by road. Paul is dazzled by the discovery of his personal paradise. Théo leaves after a stay of a few weeks. Two views of Saint-Tropez painted in 1892 by Signac were sold respectively for £ 19.5M by Christie's on February 27, 2019 and for $ 10.7M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2016.
Seurat's untimely death in 1891 was a shock. Signac and Van Rysselberghe are organizing two exhibitions in his memory, in Brussels and in Paris. After the opening of the Paris exhibition in March 1892, they manage to change their minds by taking a cruise in the Mediterranea.
The two friends meet in Bordeaux on the Olympia, the small sailing boat that Signac had bought in the previous year. They reach the Mediterranea by the Canal du Midi. Théo van Rysselberghe paints several oils on canvas in the style of Signac, making of course great use of the cobalt blue.
On July 10, 2020, Christie's sold for $ 9.1M from a lower estimate of $ 7M a view of the coast, probably near Cette, titled Barques de pêche, 63 x 84 cm including the liner painted by the artist, lot 59. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Grande Bleue is shown with a pattern of oblique lines that simulate the waves, while several rows of sails move away in a skillfully balanced composition. The use of complementary colors, orange and blue, yellow and violet, complies with Seurat's precepts.
The artist's frame is frequent in the work of van Rysselberghe at that period. It is painted as a decorative abstraction that echoes the pointillism. It is also present on the view of the Scheldt, painted in the same year probably after the trip, sold for £ 8.5M by Sotheby's in 2017.
The cruise ends in early May in Saint-Tropez, the small port which was not yet accessible by road. Paul is dazzled by the discovery of his personal paradise. Théo leaves after a stay of a few weeks. Two views of Saint-Tropez painted in 1892 by Signac were sold respectively for £ 19.5M by Christie's on February 27, 2019 and for $ 10.7M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2016.
3
1892 Port de Cette
2017 SOLD for $ 7.2M by Sotheby's
Painted in 1892, an oil on canvas 60 x 70 cm showing les Tartanes dans le port de Cette (current day Sète) was sold for $ 7.2M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2017, lot 45.
The tartanes were small ships used for trade and fishing along the Mediterranean coast.
The tartanes were small ships used for trade and fishing along the Mediterranean coast.
4
1892 L'Escaut
2017 SOLD for £ 8.5M by Sotheby's
The néo-impressionnisme of Seurat and Signac seeks to adapt to the painting the theories of Chevreul on color perception. The divisionnistes juxtapose their dots of pure colors supposed to recombine the complete spectrum from a remote observation.
The followers of this movement early reach its limits. The brightness can actually be spectacular but only if the composition is overwhelmed by yellow and orange. The weakening of the other colors considerably reduces the themes.
Seurat died prematurely in 1891. Signac left to meet the Mediterranean sun. His oil on canvas 47 x 55 cm painted in 1892 showing Saint-Tropez under a top midday sunshine was sold for $ 10.7M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2016.
Théo van Rysselberghe is a friend of Signac with whom he shares the anarchist opinions. He is convinced by the divisionnisme without joining its luministe variant promoted by Emile Claus and other Belgian néo-impressionnistes.
In 1892 and 1893 van Rysselberghe achieved some sensational luminosity in his oils on canvas. Decidedly attracted by the sun he settled in Provence in the late 1890s but already his art had become classic again.
L'Escaut en amont d'Anvers le soir is an oil on canvas 67 x 90 cm painted in 1892. The composition is very simple, only displaying four poles and their reflections and a small sailboat that merges into the twilight blue of the other bank of the river. Sky and water are glowing. Remaining in its original artist's frame, it was sold for £ 8.5M from a lower estimate of £ 7M by Sotheby's on June 21, 2017, lot 59.
The followers of this movement early reach its limits. The brightness can actually be spectacular but only if the composition is overwhelmed by yellow and orange. The weakening of the other colors considerably reduces the themes.
Seurat died prematurely in 1891. Signac left to meet the Mediterranean sun. His oil on canvas 47 x 55 cm painted in 1892 showing Saint-Tropez under a top midday sunshine was sold for $ 10.7M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2016.
Théo van Rysselberghe is a friend of Signac with whom he shares the anarchist opinions. He is convinced by the divisionnisme without joining its luministe variant promoted by Emile Claus and other Belgian néo-impressionnistes.
In 1892 and 1893 van Rysselberghe achieved some sensational luminosity in his oils on canvas. Decidedly attracted by the sun he settled in Provence in the late 1890s but already his art had become classic again.
L'Escaut en amont d'Anvers le soir is an oil on canvas 67 x 90 cm painted in 1892. The composition is very simple, only displaying four poles and their reflections and a small sailboat that merges into the twilight blue of the other bank of the river. Sky and water are glowing. Remaining in its original artist's frame, it was sold for £ 8.5M from a lower estimate of £ 7M by Sotheby's on June 21, 2017, lot 59.
#AuctionUpdate Showing his mastery of the #pointilliste technique, one of Théo van Rysselberghe’s finest #landscapes sells for record £8.5m pic.twitter.com/a7lGnm4Dpg
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 21, 2017
DELVAUX
1
1936 Le Miroir
2016 SOLD for £ 7.3M by Sotheby's
La Trahison des images, featured by Magritte in 1929, is a manifesto or a guide of his vision concerning the artistic language. The image of the pipe is opposed by the writing : this is not a pipe. This statement is wrong, but it is also true: it is not a pipe but a painted canvas. Truth does not exist.
Paul Delvaux discovers in 1934 the surrealism in the manner of Magritte and De Chirico. He finds thereby the thread of his entire career. In the silence of the canvas, without a need for words, the reflection in the mirror and the shadows know how to lie.
Delvaux beautifully draws the nude women. Their psychology is not visible in their static attitude but through their surrounding. They face their double, who can be a dressed woman or a reflection or a dummy.
Le Miroir, oil on canvas 110 x 136 cm painted in 1936, demonstrates the creativity of the artist in the early days of his approach.
The woman turns her back to us, sitting on a stool in an interior. Her beautiful evening dress contrasts with the wall paper that peels into a misery which is certainly the truth that she wants to escape.
She watches her desire in the mirror. Her reflection is in the same seated position but now she is naked within a gate that opens onto a sunny courtyard with trees. The reflection of the shabby paper is also visible. The new angle reveals her smile of hope. The light remains logic with shadows that do not contradict it.
The doubt arises from the opposition between the inside and the outside. The title appeals for a mirror but does that woman look at her reflection or at a painted image which in this case would be a painting in the painting ? This question shall remain unanswered, both without truth and without lie.
Le Miroir was sold for £ 3.2M by Christie's on December 8, 1999, lot 59 and for £ 7.3M by Sotheby's on February 3, 2016, lot 48.
Paul Delvaux discovers in 1934 the surrealism in the manner of Magritte and De Chirico. He finds thereby the thread of his entire career. In the silence of the canvas, without a need for words, the reflection in the mirror and the shadows know how to lie.
Delvaux beautifully draws the nude women. Their psychology is not visible in their static attitude but through their surrounding. They face their double, who can be a dressed woman or a reflection or a dummy.
Le Miroir, oil on canvas 110 x 136 cm painted in 1936, demonstrates the creativity of the artist in the early days of his approach.
The woman turns her back to us, sitting on a stool in an interior. Her beautiful evening dress contrasts with the wall paper that peels into a misery which is certainly the truth that she wants to escape.
She watches her desire in the mirror. Her reflection is in the same seated position but now she is naked within a gate that opens onto a sunny courtyard with trees. The reflection of the shabby paper is also visible. The new angle reveals her smile of hope. The light remains logic with shadows that do not contradict it.
The doubt arises from the opposition between the inside and the outside. The title appeals for a mirror but does that woman look at her reflection or at a painted image which in this case would be a painting in the painting ? This question shall remain unanswered, both without truth and without lie.
Le Miroir was sold for £ 3.2M by Christie's on December 8, 1999, lot 59 and for £ 7.3M by Sotheby's on February 3, 2016, lot 48.
2
1938 La Ville Endormie
2025 SOLD for £ 6.2M by Christie's
Les Belles de nuit, also titled Comédie du soir, is a staging of four female characters in a nocturnal theater.
The two semi nude women standing in the foreground are draped like antique statues in the taste of De Chirico. One of them has an exuberant headdress that provides a spot of color. A woman in a long gown in the fashion of the 18th century is standing in front of a theatrical Palladian pavilion in which her image is reflected by a mirror.
The mountain landscape would be in the fashion of Magritte while the bright light and shadows in the foreground confirm that the scene is staged.
This oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm painted in 1936 was sold for £ 4.4M by Christie's on March 5, 2025, lot 107.
Painted in 1938, La Ville endormie is another nocturnal staging, with fully of half nude women at various distances. Behind the vast square, the doomed palace in an architectural patchwork is lit by the moon. A skull reinforces the illusion of a lost past.
This oil on canvas 150 x 175 cm was sold for £ 6.2M from a lower estimate of £ 1.2M by Christie's on March 5, 2025, same sale as the example above, lot 106. It is titled Le Rêve on the stretcher bar, referring to the like of the artist who is attending impassibly in a doorway.
The two semi nude women standing in the foreground are draped like antique statues in the taste of De Chirico. One of them has an exuberant headdress that provides a spot of color. A woman in a long gown in the fashion of the 18th century is standing in front of a theatrical Palladian pavilion in which her image is reflected by a mirror.
The mountain landscape would be in the fashion of Magritte while the bright light and shadows in the foreground confirm that the scene is staged.
This oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm painted in 1936 was sold for £ 4.4M by Christie's on March 5, 2025, lot 107.
Painted in 1938, La Ville endormie is another nocturnal staging, with fully of half nude women at various distances. Behind the vast square, the doomed palace in an architectural patchwork is lit by the moon. A skull reinforces the illusion of a lost past.
This oil on canvas 150 x 175 cm was sold for £ 6.2M from a lower estimate of £ 1.2M by Christie's on March 5, 2025, same sale as the example above, lot 106. It is titled Le Rêve on the stretcher bar, referring to the like of the artist who is attending impassibly in a doorway.
3
1941 Les Mains
2011 SOLD for $ 6.6M by Christie's
Delvaux is a figurative painter, but not narrative. His softly erotic nude women do nothing but being looked. They stay in antique architectures that seem familiar without being identified.
An oil on canvas 110 x 130 cm is an exception. It was painted in Brussels in 1941, in the stifling atmosphere of war.
Women are shown in three distances. Two are close. Two are intertwined in the background landscape. The other two, naked only above the waist, are each on the arm of a man with a bowler hat who seems to come straight from Magritte.
The two women in the foreground wish to communicate. Subtly, their anguish is only reflected by the twisting of the hands. A man, half-over on the left, could help but they do not look at him: it is one of very few paintings in which Delvaux has introduced his self-portrait.
Les Mains was sold for $ 6.6M by Christie's on November 1, 2011, lot 55.
An oil on canvas 110 x 130 cm is an exception. It was painted in Brussels in 1941, in the stifling atmosphere of war.
Women are shown in three distances. Two are close. Two are intertwined in the background landscape. The other two, naked only above the waist, are each on the arm of a man with a bowler hat who seems to come straight from Magritte.
The two women in the foreground wish to communicate. Subtly, their anguish is only reflected by the twisting of the hands. A man, half-over on the left, could help but they do not look at him: it is one of very few paintings in which Delvaux has introduced his self-portrait.
Les Mains was sold for $ 6.6M by Christie's on November 1, 2011, lot 55.
