Le Tambour-Major - The drum major

In 1888-89 James Ensor painted "The entry of Christ in Brussels in 1889" - and audacious and oversized picture for the time (now in the Paul Getty Museum, Malibu). The work was inspired by the social and political unrest that had existed in Belgium in 1885 and offered salvation through religious (the entry of Christ) and social cohesion (The Carnival). He kept this picture at home for many years and positioned it above his harmonium, it incited him to use fragments as subjects for seven later canvases. According to Xavier Tricot (cat. no. 540 - 546) it is likely that Ensor painted those seven pictures between 1925 and 1929. All were sold through dealers with the exception of this picture "Le Tambour-Major", which was purchased by the present owner's uncle directly from Ensor's studio. This picture exemplifies Ensor's pictorial aims - the dense arrangements of the masks and the distortion of human faces symbolize his sense of persecution and concern for social conditions. The force of this subject and the strength of his feeling is amplified by the freedom of his brush and the use of pure colour applied directly to the canvas.

See colour illustration and cover illustration