Skeletons Fighting over the Body of a Hanged Man
object number:
1857
measurements:
59 × 74 cm
date:
1891 - 1891

civet. The four figures are connected by several thin, dark ropes. In the front left is a skeleton wearing a top hat and holding a bottle. The figure wears a white shirt and green tabard and black boots. To the right, the face of a mask emerges, pointing a finger at the character with the bottle. The room is bare with a simple plank floor. The wall at the back has a high dark blue plinth, just above it a narrow light green band and a second green band above the doorways. To the left and right, there is an open door. Through those doors, a number of masks enter the room. On the right we see six masks with the appearance of characters from the Belgian folk carnival, one has the head of a rodent. Through the left doorway, six masks depicting characters from Africa and Asia emerge. Both groups are led by an armed character. One has a razor in his hand the other a kitchen knife. The skeletons, the hanged and some masked characters all have dark hands, as if wearing gloves.
civet, to end up in a ragout would then be an alter ego of the artist. Letters sent by James and occasionally Mitche Ensor to Ernest and Mariette Rousseau-Hannon confirm that, at least during the last years of his life, Ensor's father wandered around Ostend several times for long periods drunk and was occasionally hospitalised. But there is no mention yet of discord between the other members of the family, which only surfaces in the letters of the 1990s. Even in other cases such as The Intrigue (1890), the idea that the characters presented depict situations from family life turns out to be unfounded.2
folkand
non-Westernmask characters, who enter the room through the doorways on the left and right, armed with a knife, is not clear: do they come to the aid of the hanged mask character or do they take sides with one of the fighting ladies. The tongue hanging out of the hanged man's mouth shows that the man is dead. Ensor had a particular preference for depicting long tongues. In Skeletons in Travesty (1896),
maleand
femaleskeletons kiss each other with extremely long tongues.
swaningwe do not know either.
heavilyrestored at the end of World War II in exactly that zone.
ses qualités de franc coloriste et sa pâte solide. Je lui laisse pour compte ses masques, ses pendus et ses squelettes (...).7
Herwig Todts, Squelettes se disputant un pendu, Lydia Schoonbaert (ed.), James Ensor, Paris-Musées, 1990.
Xavier Tricot, James Ensor. Leven en werk. Oeuvrecatalogus van de schilderijen, Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2009, nr. 334.
civet. The four figures are connected by several thin, dark ropes. In the front left is a skeleton wearing a top hat and holding a bottle. The figure wears a white shirt and green tabard and black boots. To the right, the face of a mask emerges, pointing a finger at the character with the bottle. The room is bare with a simple plank floor. The wall at the back has a high dark blue plinth, just above it a narrow light green band and a second green band above the doorways. To the left and right, there is an open door. Through those doors, a number of masks enter the room. On the right we see six masks with the appearance of characters from the Belgian folk carnival, one has the head of a rodent. Through the left doorway, six masks depicting characters from Africa and Asia emerge. Both groups are led by an armed character. One has a razor in his hand the other a kitchen knife. The skeletons, the hanged and some masked characters all have dark hands, as if wearing gloves.
civet, to end up in a ragout would then be an alter ego of the artist. Letters sent by James and occasionally Mitche Ensor to Ernest and Mariette Rousseau-Hannon confirm that, at least during the last years of his life, Ensor's father wandered around Ostend several times for long periods drunk and was occasionally hospitalised. But there is no mention yet of discord between the other members of the family, which only surfaces in the letters of the 1990s. Even in other cases such as The Intrigue (1890), the idea that the characters presented depict situations from family life turns out to be unfounded.2
folkand
non-Westernmask characters, who enter the room through the doorways on the left and right, armed with a knife, is not clear: do they come to the aid of the hanged mask character or do they take sides with one of the fighting ladies. The tongue hanging out of the hanged man's mouth shows that the man is dead. Ensor had a particular preference for depicting long tongues. In Skeletons in Travesty (1896),
maleand
femaleskeletons kiss each other with extremely long tongues.
swaningwe do not know either.
heavilyrestored at the end of World War II in exactly that zone.
ses qualités de franc coloriste et sa pâte solide. Je lui laisse pour compte ses masques, ses pendus et ses squelettes (...).7
Herwig Todts, Squelettes se disputant un pendu, Lydia Schoonbaert (ed.), James Ensor, Paris-Musées, 1990.
Xavier Tricot, James Ensor. Leven en werk. Oeuvrecatalogus van de schilderijen, Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2009, nr. 334.
The painting is covered by a transparent grey layer that follows the forms of the composition. It is not clear whether Ensor added this grey layer or whether it is the consequence of a restoration. There are localised protrusions in the paint layer as well as the presence of what are probably wax beads.







Rof the signature, or around it.



Sporadically, fingerprints are found in the paint layer.
The palette knife used is also mid-sized, resulting in 0.5 to 2 cm marks.








Civet’sblue shoe shows a deep red burgundy colour in the false colour image, suggestive of ultramarine.1

CivetFoot (Norm).

CivetFoot (IRFC).
ENSOR
1891
ENSORwas added in blue, brown/red and black paint. Below this,
1891was added in fine lines. This may have been done in pencil or black paint.












This restoration also showed how extremely sensitive the red and green tones are to the slightest friction during cleaning.








beadsappear to lie on top of the paint layer, but here and there, they appear to be mixed into the paint layer. This phenomenon may have something to do with how the works were restored in the past. Further research is needed to establish this.


1945: Restoration by C. Bender, report dated 15/07/1945. Canvas mounted on a wooden support. Specifies that a wax layer had been added.
10/06/1999: Adjustment of the rabbet of the frame and installation of a new hanging system; retouching of the edges of the work.
02/09/2000: Intervention report recording surface cleaning (saliva) and stabilization of raised paint with gelatine glue, retouches with Paraloid B-72 and pigments.
23/07/2001: Report on damage following water leak into the gallery – damp predominantly in the back of the panel, but also problems at the front, namely raised paint flakes and depositions of gold and plaster particles from the frame on the paint layer.
12/08/2002: Report following tests to remove overpainting (M. Postec) – conclusion: difficult to remove without causing damage to the original. Report of raised paint flakes in the paint layer. Displaced overpainting next to the 'hanged man' and fragile area on the left foot and leg of the
hanged man.
05/03/2003: Treatment report (by N. Laquière) reporting surface cleaning (saliva – sensitivity of reds and greens), removal of traces of gold leaf with scalpel, no stabilisation required, degraded glue stains removed (ethyl acetate [5], THF [35], water [45]).
29/09/2006: Stabilisation of a few miniscule, raised paint flakes in the central area and elsewhere
10/10/2006: Stabilisation of small, raised paint flakes
07/10/2008: Record of the loss of a blue paint flake (Herwig Todts) in the dress of the right-hand skeleton
08/2008: Placement of safety glass
12/2008: Retouching of old lacunae
2016: condition report



1920, Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, James Ensor, no. 35;
1921, Antwerp, Kunst van Heden. Exhibition 1921, no. 82;
1926, Bern, Musée des Beaux-Arts et Kunsthalle de Berne, Exposition de l'Art Belge ancien et moderne, no. 219;
1929, Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, James Ensor, no. 188;
1949, Charleroi, Salles de la Bourse, Cercle Artistique et Littéraire de Charleroi. XXIIIme Salon, no. 27, image;
1950, Bosvoorde, Salons van 't Hoog Huis, 5th Exhibition, no. 20;
1951, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, James Ensor. Retrospective, no. 90, image no. 71;
1951, New York, The Modern Museum of Art, James Ensor, no. 45, image, p. 19;
1951, Boston, The Institute of Contemporary Art, James Ensor, no. 45, image, p. 19;
1951, New York, The Modern Museum of Art, James Ensor, no. 45, image p. 19;
1951, St. Louis, City Art Museum, James Ensor, no. 45, image, p. 19;
1952, Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne, Masterpieces of the XXth Century, no. 24;
1952, London, The Tate Gallery, XXth Century Masterpieces. An exhibition of paintings and sculpture, no. 24;
1954, Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, James Ensor, no. 55;
1957, Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bosch Goya et le Fantastique, no. 244;
1958, Leopoldstad, Vijftigste verjaardag van Belgisch Congo. Grote figuren van de Belgische schilderkunst der laatste halve eeuw, no. 2;
1958, Elisabethstad, Vijftigste verjaardag van Belgisch Congo. Grote figuren van de Belgische schilderkunst der laatste halve eeuw, no. 2;
1958, Leopoldstad, Vijftigste verjaardag van Belgisch Congo. Grote figuren van de Belgische schilderkunst der laatste halve eeuw, no. 2;
1958, Leopoldstad, Vijftigste verjaardag van Belgisch Congo. Grote figuren van de Belgische schilderkunst der laatste halve eeuw, no. 2;
1959, Krefeld, Museum Haus Lange, James Ensor (no catalogue);
1960, London, Marlborough Fine Art Limited, James Ensor. 1860-1949; A retrospective centenary exhibition, no. 59;
1960, Oostend, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Feestpaleis, James Ensor, no. 63, image;
1961, Otterlo, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Ensor. 1860/1949, no. 44, image;
1961, Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Ensor. 1860/1949, no. 44, image;
1963, Basel, Kunsthalle, James Ensor, no. 58, image no. 58;
1963, Münster, Landesmuseum Münster, James Ensor, no. 58, image no. 58;
1964, Arnhem, Gemeentemuseum, Werkelijkheid en verbeelding. Belgische surrealisten, no. 18, image;
1964, Munich, Haus der Kunst, Secession. Europäische Kunst um die Jahrhundertwende, no. 136;
1968, Bruges, Provinciaal Hof, Vlaamse Symbolisten;
1968, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, James Ensor.
1970, Paris, l'Orangerie, L'Art Flamand d'Ensor à Permeke;
1970, Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, En liten bok om Ensor, no. 104, image p. 64;
1971, London, The Royal Academy of Arts, Ensor to Permeke. Nine Flemish Painters 1880-1950, no. 117;
1972, Stuttgart, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Ensor. Ein Maler aus dem späten 19.Jahrhundert, no. 39, image p. 103;
1972, Kamakura, The Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor Exhibtion, no. 21, image;
1972, Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, James Ensor Exhibition, no. 21, image;
1972, Nagoya, Prefectoraal Museum Aichi, Tentoonstelling James Ensor, no. 21, image;
1972/ 1973, Kamakura, Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor Exhibition, no. 21, image;
1976/ 1977, Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Ensor, no. 35, image;
1977, New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Ensor, no. 35, image;
1983, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, James Ensor, no. 88, image p. 167;
1983, Zürich, Kunsthaus Zürich, James Ensor, no. 81, image p. 265;
1983/ 1984, Kobe, The Modern Museum of Art, James Ensor, no. 51, image p. 69;
1984, Kamakura, The Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor, no. 51, image p. 69;
1984, Saitama, The Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor, no. 51, image p. 69;
1984, Sendai, Miyagi Museum of Art, James Ensor, no. 51, image p. 69;
1986/ 1987, Newport Beach, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Flemish Expressions. Representational painting in the twentieth century, no. 29, image p. 47;
1987, Fort Lauderdale, Museum of Art, Flemish Expressions. Representational painting in the twentieth century, no. 29, image p. 47;
1988, Rotterdam, Museum Boymans Van Beuningen, Wegbereiders van het modernisme. Ensor. Hodler. Kruyder. Munch, no. 9, image;
1990, Paris, Musée du Petit Palais, James Ensor, no. 167, image p. 202;
1991, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, In dienst van de kunst. Antwerps mecenaat rond 'Kunst van Heden' (1905-1959). Retrospective exhibition, no. 68, image p. 110;
1993, Utrecht, Centraal Museum, James Ensor. 1860-1949; Schilderijen, tekeningen en grafiek. Een selectie uit Belgisch en Nederlands bezit, no. 32, image p. 83;
1993/ 1994, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, In depot / uit depot. De modernen in het koninklijk museum;
1999/ 2000, Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Ensor, no. 100, image p. 163;
2000, Himeji, Himeji City Museum of Art, From Ensor to Delvaux, no. 7, image p. 63;
2000, Sakura, Sakura City Museum of Art, From Ensor to Delvaux, no. 7, image p. 63;
2001, Tokyo, Isetan Museum of Art, From Ensor to Delvaux, no. 7, image p. 63;
2001, Osaka, Umeda, Daimaru Museum, From Ensor to Delvaux, no. 7, image p. 63;
2001, Okazaki, Okazaki City Museum, From Ensor to Delvaux, no. 7, image p. 63;
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. 101, image p. 133;
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. 101, image p. 133;
2005, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 62, image p. 97;
2005, Tsu City, Mie Prefectural Art Museum, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 62, image p. 97;
2005, Fukushima, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 62, image p. 97;
2005, Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 62, image p. 97;
2005, Takamatsu, Takamatsu City Museum of Art, James Ensor: Japonisme to Modernism, no. 62, image p. 97;
2007, Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, The forbidden empire: world view of Chinese and Flemish masters, image p. 179;
2007, Beijing, Palace Museum, The forbidden empire: world view of Chinese and Flemish masters, image p. 179;
2008, Wuppertal, Von der Heydt Museum, James Ensor. Schrecken ohne Ende, image p. 170;
2009, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, Goya, Redon, Ensor. Grotesque paintings and drawings, image p. 174;
2010, Mexico, Xochimilco, Museo Dolores Olmedo Patinõ, James Ensor, image p. 58, pp. 112-113 and p. 40 (detail);
2010/ 2011, Brussels, ING Culture center, Ensor unmasked, no. 219, image p. 195;
2011, The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, James Ensor. Universum van een fantast, image p. 124;
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. 110, image p. 133;
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. 110, image p. 133;
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. 110, image p. 133;
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. 110, image p. 133;
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. 110, image p. 133;
2013/ 2014, Ordrupgaard, James Ensor Fra Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen og schweiziske samlinger, no. 121, image;
2014, Basel, Kunstmuseum,The surprised masks: James Ensor from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and Swiss collections, no. 121, 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);
2016/ 2017, London, Royal Academy of Arts, Intrigue: James Ensor by Luc Tuymans, no. 46, image p. 102-103;
2018/ 2020, Oostend, Mu.ZEE, Dreams of mother-of-pearl. The ENSOR collection of the KMSKA in Ostend, image p. 7;
2021, Mannheim, Kunsthalle, James Ensor, no. 45, image p. 107;
2021/ 2022, Munich, Kunsthalle München, Fantastically real. Belgian modern art from Ensor to Magritte, no. 52, image p. 114;
Material technical footnotes
1Moon, T., Schilling, M.R., Thirkettle, S., A Note on the Use of False-Color Infrared Photography in Conservation, in Studies in Conservation, Vol. 37, N°1, pp. 42-52, Feb. 1992
2Le Roy, G., James Ensor, G. Van Oest & Cie – éditeurs, 1922, photograph by P. Becker, Brussels
Art historical footnotes
1Oral communication Yuri Nagai 15/04/2023.
2Gert Schiff, Ensor the Exorcist, Moshe Barash & Lucy Freeman Sandler (ed.), Art the Ape of Nature. Studies in Honor of HW Janson, New York, 730-31.- 981, pp. 719-37.- Herwig Todts, Squelettes se disputant un pendu, Lydia Schoonbaert (ed.), James Ensor, Paris-Musées, 1990, p. 202-03.- Herwig Todts, Le Rubens de la modernité, Herwig Todts (ed.), James Ensor. Wildest Dreams. Beyond Impressionism, Hannibal Books, 2024, p. 132 ff.
3Peter Gay, Education of the Senses. The Bourgeois Experience: Victoria to Freud, New York & London: W.W. Norton, 1984, p. 169 ff.
4Susan M. Canning, Viva la Sociale. The Social Context of James Ensor’s Art Practice, London, New York, Dublin: Bloomsbury, 2023, pp. 114-118.
5Lydia Schoonbaert, Gazette des Beaux-Arts
en Thu Studio
als inspiratiebronnen voor James Ensor, Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1978, p. 208.- Walther Vanbeselaere, James Ensor Retrospectieve, Antwerpen: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1951, p. 19.
6Herwig Todts (ed.), Goya, Redon, Ensor. Grotesque Paintings and Drawings, Tielt: Lannoo, 2009, p. 151 ff.
7Sussan M. Canning, A History and Critical Review of the Salons of Les Vingt’, 1884-1893, A Thesis in Art History, (an authorized facsimile), University Microfilms International, 1982, p. 329.
Citations
1
Chicago: KMSKA. Online Scholarly Catalogue: Research Skeletons Fighting over the Body of a Hanged Man.
Last modified September 28, 2024, https://kmska.be/en/osc/skeletons-fighting-over-body-hanged-man.
2
MLA: KMSKA. Research Skeletons Fighting over the Body of a Hanged Man.
Online Scholarly Catalogue, 28 September 2024, https://kmska.be/en/osc/skeletons-fighting-over-body-hanged-man.