Mask and Crustaceans is painted on a hardwood panel approximately 6 mm thick. This panel, probably native oak, has a ring-porous structure with a horizontal grain. It has slight signs of damage, including a small hole at top right, possibly caused by incorrect handling. On the back, there is a layer of varnish, several labels and inscriptions and the remains of the brown paper that was used to secure the panel in its frame.
The white ground layer is predominantly lead-based with a small amount of calcium and its application is even and thin. There are minor signs of damage to the corners caused by friction from the frame. There is a detailed underdrawing in a dry medium (i.e. pencil, charcoal, etc.), visible on the infrared image. This can only be seen by the naked eye to the right the wine bottle. The underdrawing was followed carefully during painting. At some point there was a vase behind the crab on the right, but it was subsequently overpainted. There are two words – vive carême’ – in the background; they mean long live Lent
. They are only just visible to the naked eye.
It is worth noting the absence of an underdrawing beneath the black mask under the table. This mask was added over a localised varnish layer and is now badly cracked.
The painting technique consists of a layer of opaque oil paint over a white ground layer with the paint covering the ground and underdrawing almost entirely. The objects on the table are mostly painted with short, streaky brushstrokes. The background is painted with diagonal brushstrokes, typical of Ensor's later still lifes. The objects are painted with a small, soft-bristled brush while the background is painted with a thicker, hard-bristled brush. The contours are traced in black paint which gives the objects clear outlines.
PXFR indicated the use lead white, vermilion, earth pigments and cobalt blue, although some pigments, including the black and purple paint, could not be identified.
The signature Ensor 91
appears at lower right a few centimetres above the lower edge and partly disappears on the infrared image. Ensor probably traced over the first two letters in a different pigment.
The most noticeable damage is to the blue paint layers. This includes craters in the paint layer, probably caused by metal soaps. This damage may well have occurred early in the history of the work.
There are two layers of varnish: one, a recent synthetic layer, and the other, a locally applied layer beneath the table which is probably a natural varnish like dammar.
Exhibition history
1892, Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Les XX. Brussels. Ninth annual exhibition, no. 7;
1921, Antwerp, Kunst van Heden. Exhibition 1921, no. 81;
1951, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, James Ensor. Retrospective, no. 95, image no. 80;
1955, Neremberg, Fränkische Galerie am Marientor, 50 Jahre Belgische Kunst. 1890-1940, no. 29;
1956, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, Henri De Braekeleer en zijn werk, no. 83;
1959, Krefeld, Museum Haus Lange, James Ensor (no catalogue);
1960, Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Cercle Royal Artistique et Littéraire de Charleroi, XXXIVe Salon. Trente ans de peinture belge. 1890-1920, no. 12;
1961, Otterlo, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Ensor. 1860/1949, no. 48;
1961, Rotterdam, Museum Boymans Van Beuningen, Ensor. 1860/1949, no. 48;
1963, Basel, Kunsthalle, James Ensor, no. 62, image no. 62;
1963, Münster, Landesmuseum Münster, James Ensor, no. 62, image no. 62;
1969, Kaiserslautern, Pfalzgalerie, no. 51;
1972, Stuttgart, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Ensor. Ein Maler aus dem späten 19.Jahrhundert, no. 40, image p. 120;
1972, Kamakura, The Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor Exhibition, no. 20, image;
1972, Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, James Ensor Exhibition, no. 20, image;
1972, Fukuoka, Prefectoral Museum of Art, James Ensor Exhibition, no. 20, image;
1972/ 1973, Kyoto, The National Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor Exhibition, no. 20, image;
1974, Bosque de Chapultepec, Museo de Arte Moderno, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, Tres Maestros de la imaginación. Ensor. Magritte. Delvaux. El Surrealismo en Belgica y su antecedente, no. 7, image;
1983/ 1984, Kobe, The Modern Museum of Art, James Ensor, no. 50, image p. 72;
1984, Kamakura, The Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor, no. 50, image p. 72;
1984, Saitama, The Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor, no. 50, image p. 72;
1984, Sendai, Miyagi Museum of Art, James Ensor, no. 50, image p. 72;
2000, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, Mo(u)vements. Kunstenaarsbewegingen in België van 1880 tot 2000;
2003, Saint Petersburg, Russian Ethnographic Museum, James Ensor (1860-1949). Antwerp presents a Painter, no. 17, image;
2004/ 2005, Salamanca, Caja Duero, James Ensor. De noche cartografiaba mis sueños. Obras en las colecciones del Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten de Amberes (KMSKA) y del Museum voor Schone Kunsten de Ostende (MSKO), no. 129, image p. 172;
2005, Seville, Caja San Fernando, James Ensor. De noche cartografiaba mis sueños. Obras en las colecciones del Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten de Amberes (KMSKA) y del Museum voor Schone Kunsten de Ostende (MSKO), no. 129, image p. 172;
2005, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 63, image p. 98;
2005, Tsu City, Mie Prefectural Art Museum, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 64, image p. 98;
2005, Fukushima, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 64, image p. 98;
2005, Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 64, image p. 98;
2005, Takamatsu, Takamatsu City Museum of Art, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 64, image p. 98;
2010, Mexico, Xochimilco, Museo Dolores Olmedo Patinõ, James Ensor, image p. 59;
2010/ 2011, Brussels, ING Culture center, Ensor unmasked, no. 225, image p. 203;
2011, The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, James Ensor. Universum van een fantast, image p. 127;
2012, Aichi, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, James Ensor in Context. Ensor and the History of European Art from the Collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, no. 116, image p. 139;
2012, Ehime, The Museum of Art, James Ensor in Context. Ensor and the History of European Art from the Collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, no. 116, image p. 139;
2012, Tokyo, Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan Museum of Art, James Ensor in Context. Ensor and the History of European Art from the Collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, no. 116, image p. 139;
2012/ 2013, Iwate, Iwate Museum of Art, James Ensor in Context. Ensor and the History of European Art from the Collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, no. 116, image p. 139;
2013, Okayama, The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, James Ensor in Context. Ensor and the History of European Art from the Collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, no. 116, image p. 139;
2013/ 2014, Ordrupgaard, James Ensor Fra Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen og schweiziske samlinger, no. 111, image;
2014, Basel, Kunstmuseum, The surprised masks: James Ensor from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and Swiss collections, no. 111, image;
2014, Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Getty Center, The Scandalous Art of James Ensor (no catalogue);
2014/ 2015, Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Temptation: The Demons of James Ensor (no catalogue);
2018/ 2020, Oostend, Mu.ZEE, Dreams of mother-of-pearl. The ENSOR collection of the KMSKA in Ostend, image p. 39;
2021, Mannheim, Kunsthalle, James Ensor, no. 67, image p. 136;
2021/ 2022, Munich, Kunsthalle München, Fantastically real. Belgian modern art from Ensor to Magritte, no. 50, image p. 112;
2023/2024, Oostend, Mu.ZEE, Rose, rose, rose à mes yeux. James Ensor and still life in Belgium, no. 42, image p. 91;