Exhibition/event has ended.
James Ensor Exhibition
Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
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Artists
James Ensor
Together with his compatriots René Magritte and Paul Delvaux, James Ensor (Ostend, 1860-1949) is often considered as a key figure in the Belgian modern art scene.
Ensor is especially known for his surreal paintings of masks, but his starting point was realism. While he was still a young man, he earned a solid reputation among upcoming and established artists with his landscapes, still lifes and portraits, painted in a daring naturalistic style mixed with plein-airist elements.
Gradually, masks, skeletons and other oddities started appearing in Ensor's paintings. These grotesque fantasies were attempts to capture the true nature of man and are clearly reminiscent of Chinese and Japanese fine arts. Ensor also made religiously, historically and socially inspired paintings full of irony and shocking caricatures.
The exhibition in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum is the first Ensor exhibition to be organized in Japan in 20 years. It features around 140 oil paintings, sketches and prints from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp, the Municipal Museum of Ostend and other collections, thereby giving a full overview of Ensor's oeuvre, and even revealing its lesser known aspects.
A series of lectures will be given during the event; please check the event's website below for more information (Japanese language only).
Painting: "Death and the Masks". 1897 City Museum of Modern Art Liège.
(c) SABAM, Bruxelles & SPDA, Tokyo, 2005
Ensor is especially known for his surreal paintings of masks, but his starting point was realism. While he was still a young man, he earned a solid reputation among upcoming and established artists with his landscapes, still lifes and portraits, painted in a daring naturalistic style mixed with plein-airist elements.
Gradually, masks, skeletons and other oddities started appearing in Ensor's paintings. These grotesque fantasies were attempts to capture the true nature of man and are clearly reminiscent of Chinese and Japanese fine arts. Ensor also made religiously, historically and socially inspired paintings full of irony and shocking caricatures.
The exhibition in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum is the first Ensor exhibition to be organized in Japan in 20 years. It features around 140 oil paintings, sketches and prints from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp, the Municipal Museum of Ostend and other collections, thereby giving a full overview of Ensor's oeuvre, and even revealing its lesser known aspects.
A series of lectures will be given during the event; please check the event's website below for more information (Japanese language only).
Painting: "Death and the Masks". 1897 City Museum of Modern Art Liège.
(c) SABAM, Bruxelles & SPDA, Tokyo, 2005
Schedule | Apr 23 (Sat) 2005-Jun 12 (Sun) 2005 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥1200, Students ¥960, Junior/High School / Over 65 ¥600 | ||||
| Venue | Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/en/  | ||||
| Location | 5-21-9 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071 | ||||
| Access | 9 minute walk from exit 1 at Shirokanedai Station on the Toei Mita or Namboku line, 10 minute walk from the East exit of Meguro Station on the JR Yamanote line, 12 minute walk from the Main exit of Meguro Station on the Tokyu Meguro line. | ||||
| Phone | 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial) | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it  |
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