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Lot Essay
The subject of the seven deadly sins has long captivated artists, most famously Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel, whose fantastical and grotesque imagery deeply influenced James Ensor. Ensor's Les Péchés Capitaux is a powerful exploration of this theme and a crucial work of his printed oeuvre, which is defined by a savage critique and satire of the immorality and corruption of the society of his time. As the Belgian writer and art critic Eugène Demolder (1862-1919) noted in the preface to the series (included with the present lot), 'James Ensor mixes in the brutality of devilry. Ferociously, he gives us the face of his contemporaries in the merciless mirror of his irony. He has no pity. He makes nothing pretty. With mocking realism he heightens ugliness and hideous features' (quoted in and transl. in: Tricot, 2010, p. 20).
Ensor began the series in 1888 with his etching of Lust, returning over a decade later to complete the remaining six sins and a frontispiece between 1902 and 1904. The full set, published in 1904, comprises: La Luxure ('Lust'), La Paresse ('Sloth'), La Colère ('Anger'), L’Orgueil ('Pride'), L’Avarice ('Avarice'), La Gourmandise ('Gluttony'), L’Envie ('Envy'), and Les Péchés Capitaux dominés par la Mort ('The Deadly Sins dominated by Death'). Each composition is teeming with intricate detail, including grotesque monsters, flying skeletons, and vivid scenes of violence, all brought to life through Ensor’s expressive use of hand-colouring.
Ensor's hand-coloured etchings are rare and were usually created ad-hoc for select patrons and collectors. The series Les Péchés Capitaux was unusual in that it was made available for purchase upon publication either hand-coloured for 50 francs or uncoloured for 20 francs per set. Although the artist himself noted that he was particularly pleased with the hand-coloured etchings of Les Péchés Capitaux, complete hand-coloured sets are exceptionally rare.
Demolder remarked that 'These luscious etchings have a particularly singular brilliance when they are coloured. They acquire warm, gilded tones that make them particularly precious' (ibid.). Tricot further notes that each hand-coloured etching can be considered a unique work, as they are transformed by the extensive reworking and application of colour into paintings akin to medieval miniatures. The hand-colouring of the present set is notably vibrant, featuring luminous applications of yellows, blues, reds, and striking white highlights. In the elaborate frontispiece, the personifications of the seven sins are crowded together beneath the commanding figure of Death, whose gleaming white skull with a triumphant grin and orange wings dominate the scene; here, the application of colour enhances not only the visual impact but also the legibility of the complex composition.
This particular set was once part of the collection of Swiss entrepreneur and collector Kurt Sponagel-Hirzel (1887–1961). While part of his fine graphic collection was gifted to the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich in 1959, a further part, including the present set, was sold in his posthumous sale in 1965. It is very rare for hand-coloured sets of Les Péchés Capitaux to survive intact; only two other complete examples have appeared at auction in the past thirty years.
Ensor began the series in 1888 with his etching of Lust, returning over a decade later to complete the remaining six sins and a frontispiece between 1902 and 1904. The full set, published in 1904, comprises: La Luxure ('Lust'), La Paresse ('Sloth'), La Colère ('Anger'), L’Orgueil ('Pride'), L’Avarice ('Avarice'), La Gourmandise ('Gluttony'), L’Envie ('Envy'), and Les Péchés Capitaux dominés par la Mort ('The Deadly Sins dominated by Death'). Each composition is teeming with intricate detail, including grotesque monsters, flying skeletons, and vivid scenes of violence, all brought to life through Ensor’s expressive use of hand-colouring.
Ensor's hand-coloured etchings are rare and were usually created ad-hoc for select patrons and collectors. The series Les Péchés Capitaux was unusual in that it was made available for purchase upon publication either hand-coloured for 50 francs or uncoloured for 20 francs per set. Although the artist himself noted that he was particularly pleased with the hand-coloured etchings of Les Péchés Capitaux, complete hand-coloured sets are exceptionally rare.
Demolder remarked that 'These luscious etchings have a particularly singular brilliance when they are coloured. They acquire warm, gilded tones that make them particularly precious' (ibid.). Tricot further notes that each hand-coloured etching can be considered a unique work, as they are transformed by the extensive reworking and application of colour into paintings akin to medieval miniatures. The hand-colouring of the present set is notably vibrant, featuring luminous applications of yellows, blues, reds, and striking white highlights. In the elaborate frontispiece, the personifications of the seven sins are crowded together beneath the commanding figure of Death, whose gleaming white skull with a triumphant grin and orange wings dominate the scene; here, the application of colour enhances not only the visual impact but also the legibility of the complex composition.
This particular set was once part of the collection of Swiss entrepreneur and collector Kurt Sponagel-Hirzel (1887–1961). While part of his fine graphic collection was gifted to the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich in 1959, a further part, including the present set, was sold in his posthumous sale in 1965. It is very rare for hand-coloured sets of Les Péchés Capitaux to survive intact; only two other complete examples have appeared at auction in the past thirty years.