The Haunted Furniture (Le meuble hanté)
James Ensor
Belgian, 1860–1949
1888
An etching in which James Ensor turns an elaborately carved cabinet into a stage for ghostly masks and peeking figures, using a household object to evoke the uncanny.
You first notice the finely incised, decorative woodwork of the wardrobe, then the uneasy surprise of pale, masklike faces and a figure at the edge, so the delicate linework and empty panel are undercut by a sudden, theatrical eeriness.
Ensor used domestic interiors and carnival masks to expose social anxiety and absurdity, and prints like this helped open printmaking to the psychological and grotesque motifs that influenced later Expressionist and Surrealist art.
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
plate 5 1/2 x 3 9/16" (14 x 9 cm)
sheet 11 5/8 x 9 5/16" (29 x 23.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Lily Auchincloss
Accession
4.1982
Palette
Exhibitions
