Special discovery: Kringwinkel Antwerp donates Ensor etching to KMSKA

A surprising discovery at Kringwinkel Antwerp: among the donated items, an authentic etching by James Ensor was found. The work, Le meuble hanté, will now have a permanent home at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA). This donation is not only a first for Kringwinkel Antwerp but also a valuable addition to the Ensor collection at KMSKA.

From donation points to home clearance services: items arrive at Kringwinkel Antwerp through various channels. Everything is collected and sorted in a central warehouse. It was here that Charlotte Pleysier, an employee at Kringwinkel Antwerp, initially noticed the etching. “She suspected it might be an original Ensor and brought it to me for a second opinion,” says Davy, supervisor at the online auction site Uwkringding. “Since I shared her suspicion, we immediately called in an expert.”

The authenticity of the work was confirmed by Bernaerts Auctioneers and Ensor experts from the KMSKA, which, with its extensive collection and the Ensor Research Project, serves as the leading center of expertise on the artist.

The etching, Le meuble hanté (The Haunted Cabinet), is a well-known print by James Ensor. The work depicts a young man in front of an antique cabinet from which a skeleton emerges. The theme is inspired by the living room of the Rousseau family in Brussels, who owned a skeleton named Aglaë and used it to play macabre pranks.

“This etching is typical of Ensor. Not only does he use a distinctive type of paper, but he also had the habit of signing and dating his etchings in pencil afterwards,” says Herwig Todts, Ensor expert at KMSKA. “The title Le meuble hanté also appears several times in the artist’s body of work: for example, there was a painting destroyed during World War II, a drawing currently on display in our exhibition Ensor’s Boldest Dreams. Beyond Impressionism, and, of course, the etching. Multiple identical impressions of this etching exist, found in the collections of Mu.ZEE, MSK Ghent, KBR, and now also at KMSKA.”

“A unique work like this etching deserves a special place,” says Lander, Marketing and Sales Director at Kringwinkel. “The KMSKA, with its renowned Ensor collection, is the ideal destination. With this donation, we not only aim to contribute to the museum’s rich collection but also to highlight how reuse can reveal unexpected treasures.”

“We are extremely grateful for this remarkable donation from Kringwinkel Antwerp. It is highly unusual for a valuable etching by James Ensor to be discovered in this way and entrusted to a museum. This etching finds a perfect home in the Ensor collection at KMSKA, where it can not only be safely preserved but, most importantly, shared with the wider public,” says Caroline Gennez, Flemish Minister of Welfare and Poverty Reduction, Culture, and Equal Opportunities.

The KMSKA will temporarily exhibit the etching in the exhibition In your wildest dreams. Ensor beyond impressionism. Afterwards, the fragile work will be carefully preserved. Thanks to its expertise and specialized resources, the museum is the ideal place to safeguard such light-sensitive works on paper. The etching will be displayed at carefully selected times.

Kringwinkel combines environmental care with social employment: items are given a second life, and people who are distant from the labor market are given opportunities. Through its stores and the auction site Uwkringding, donations are maximized in value, reducing waste while creating jobs. In Flanders, Kringwinkels employ more than 6,000 people, including 470 in Antwerp alone. Their efforts resulted last year in Antwerp in the reuse of nearly 3.7 million kilograms of materials. While unique finds like the Ensor etching are rare, special items are sometimes discovered during the sorting process. To identify valuable items, staff receive targeted training and have access to digital tools such as databases and apps.