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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF AIMÉ MOUQUÉ This fine group of eight etchings by James Ensor are dedicated to his close friend, the celebrated Belgian composer Aimé Mouqué (1894-1961). Their friendship was borne out of a shared passion for the arts of both painting and music, and Mouqué taught Ensor to play the piano and music notation. The two friends collaborated closely on Ensor’s ballet-pantomime La Gamme d'amour in 1911, with Mouqué assisting in writing the piano scores for the second half of the ballet. Ensor’s esteem for his friend’s musical talent is particularly evident in the dedications, such as “pour mon ami Aimé Mouqué/ le défenseur brilliant de ma musique” (lot 5). Mouqué held positions in Ostend as professor of music at the Koninklijk Atheneum, conductor of the Kursaal orchestra in the 1930s and later conductor of the Stadssymfonie, from 1939 until 1956.

JAMES ENSOR (1860-1949)

Insectes singuliers (Strange Insects)

Details

JAMES ENSOR (1860-1949)
Insectes singuliers (Strange Insects)
drypoint, 1888, on Japan paper, signed, dated and titled in pencil, countersigned and titled in pencil on the reverse, with wide margins, probably the full sheet, a few pinpoint foxmarks, otherwise in very good condition, framed
Plate 117 x 159 mm., Sheet 235 x 292 mm.

Provenance

A gift by the artist to Aimé Mouqué (1894-1961), Ostend, Belgium; then by descent to the present owner.

Literature

Delteil, Croquez, Tavernier, Elesh 46

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

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Alice L'Estrange

alestrange@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3083

Lot Essay

This wry drypoint depicts Ensor in the guise of a beetle, attended by what appears to be a louse on his left and a dragonfly on his right. The dragonfly has the profile of Mariette, the young wife of Ernest Rousseau. She looks intently at Ensor who seems to avoids her gaze. The print was inspired by a poem by Heinrich Heine, Die Launen der Verliebten, which was read aloud in the home of the Rousseau family one evening in the presence of Ensor. 'A beetle clung to a hedge, sad and thoughtful; he had fallen in love with a fly! O! fly of my heart! Be the bride of my choice. Marry me, don’t reject my love: I have a stomach of gold…’ (quoted in: D. Lesko, James Ensor - The Creative Years, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, p. 33). It is a whimsical declaration of Ensor’s youthful infatuation with the wife of his mentor.

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