Les Bains à Ostende (The Baths at Ostend) (D., Cr., T. 115; E. 120)

Ensor draws influence from the burlesque scenes of Bruegel’s peasants at play in this satirical account of bathers at the beach at Ostend. Candid scenes are acted before the condescending gaze of the upper classes. The scandalous behavior of the beach-goers proved too progressive for the artists’ group of La Libre Esthétique, who criticized it openly, but found favour with King Leopold II, who noted: ‘Monsieur Ensor has done the subject very well; he has not exaggerated, this is exactly how one bathes in Ostend. The sea and bathing do sometimes hold pleasant surprises in store for us.’ (Quoted in: U. Becks-Malorny, James Ensor 1860-1949 - Masks, Death, and the Sea, Taschen, Cologne, 1999, p. 55.)