Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Intrigue

James Ensor

Date

1911

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

James Ensor, along with Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch, is considered a pioneer of Expressionism. But as a creator of fantastic and bizarre images such as The Intrigue , Ensor reveals his kinship to old masters of the bizarre such as Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Here, the artist depicted his sister, Mariette, in blue hair and green cape, alongside her top-hatted fiancé, Tan Hée Tseu, a Chinese art dealer from Berlin. The couple’s engagement had caused a scandal in their hometown. The artist, in retaliation, depicts the town gossips who, disguised in their masks, have come out to point, stare, and laugh at the couple. . Belgium, Europe

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