Napoleon's Farewell

Etching with drypoint from a copper plate, on cream woven paper. Signed and dated on plate on the lower left margin. Signed and dated in pencil on the lower right margin. Second and final state of two. Excellent conditions. Passepartout included: 40.2 x 59.3 cm.

James Ensor (Belgium, 1860-1949), a forerunner of 20th-century  Expressionism and one of the major figures of the Belgian avant-garde in the late 19th century, James Ensor was a visionary, mystic, allegoric, and anarchic artist who loved exploring religious subject matters, political satire, and carnivalesque imagery (surely one of his sources of ispiration was his family’s souvenir emporium that sold grotesque carnival masks). Harsh colors and thick layers distinguish his style. His masterpiece is Christ’s Entry into Brussels  (1889), a satiric artwork set in contemporary Belgium that incorporated his trademark style. As a very prolific artist who produced more than 900 moil paintings, 4000 drawings, and 133 etchings, he was a misunderstood genius, admired by artists like Paul Klee, Emil Nolde, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. He was a founder and leader of  Les Vingt  (The Twenty), a group whose goal was to promote new artistic developments in Europe.

References:  A. Taevernier, Graphic works of James Ensor, 1973, Pl. T. III, p. 273, Tavernier 111.