The Cathedral

1860–1949 · Munkahely

Ostend

1880s

Brief trips to France and the Netherlands

Ensor travelled very little: in the 1880s, just three brief trips to France and two to the Netherlands.

1887

Death of his father

His father, James Frederic Ensor, died — a scion of a wealthy English family who never found his footing in Belgium, mocked by small-town Ostend as a drunkard and failure, yet always supportive of his son's passion for art. Left the only man in the family, James felt a special responsibility for his younger sister Mariette (Mitche).

1888–1892

Turning-point years: the Passion of Christ

Ensor turned to religious themes, most often the torments of Christ, expressing through them his disgust at the inhumanity of the world; an atheist, he identified with Christ as a victim of mockery. At the height of his creative powers, between 1886 and 1891, he made 86 of his 133 etchings.

1895

First solo exhibition in Brussels

Acceptance came gradually: the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium acquired his painting “The Lamp Boy” (1880), and Ensor had his first solo exhibition in Brussels.

1898

The Dead Rat Ball

Ensor and his friends began the tradition of the Ostend 'Bal du Rat mort' (Dead Rat Ball), which is still held every year for charity.