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James Ensor
Belgian, 1860–1949
"La Cathedrale" was one of James Ensor's best-known prints during his lifetime, and he made two versions of the composition—the first was in 1886 (he added his signature and the date to that plate in the second state). He made the second version, an almost exact copy right down to the signature and date, in 1896, to respond to the great demand for the print which led to the deterioration of the first plate. This impression is from the second plate published in 1896.
Ensor's cathedral was an amalgamation of forms from three medieval churchs—Aachen, Vienna, and Antwerp. The highly detailed rendering of the building is matched by the minute forms and expressions of the sea of mankind that surrounds it. They carry banners and flags that create a carnival-like atmosphere. Ensor scholar James Farmer characterizes the artist’s representation of a teaming crowd around a towering Gothic cathedral as “a typically Ensorian statement on the impoverished moral condition of humanity, playing off the noble structure of the church—an exalted but rare achievement by mankind—against a group of tiny masked faces.”
Belgian, 1860–1949
La Cathédrale
1896
Object Type:
Print
Dimensions:
9 3/4 in. x 7 1/2 in. (24.77 cm x 19.05 cm)
Medium and Support:
Etching on paper
Accession Number:
1983.0010
Credit Line:
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Weil, Jr., in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Weil, Sr.
Copyright:
© The Estate of James Ensor / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
"La Cathedrale" was one of James Ensor's best-known prints during his lifetime, and he made two versions of the composition—the first was in 1886 (he added his signature and the date to that plate in the second state). He made the second version, an almost exact copy right down to the signature and date, in 1896, to respond to the great demand for the print which led to the deterioration of the first plate. This impression is from the second plate published in 1896.
Ensor's cathedral was an amalgamation of forms from three medieval churchs—Aachen, Vienna, and Antwerp. The highly detailed rendering of the building is matched by the minute forms and expressions of the sea of mankind that surrounds it. They carry banners and flags that create a carnival-like atmosphere. Ensor scholar James Farmer characterizes the artist’s representation of a teaming crowd around a towering Gothic cathedral as “a typically Ensorian statement on the impoverished moral condition of humanity, playing off the noble structure of the church—an exalted but rare achievement by mankind—against a group of tiny masked faces.”
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