Intrigue- James Ensor

The painting Intrigue was painted in 1911 on an Oil on canvas, H. 37'1/4 W. 44'1/2 in. Intrigue was painted by a man with the name of James Ensor. Ensor painted this to show the prejudice and discrimination at that time. The painting takes place in Ostend, Belgium. The people in the painting are Ensor's sister Mariette and her Chinese fiancé and the local villagers of Ostend. Mariette's relationship with Tan Hee Tseu was considered a real scandal in such a rural town. Tan was an art dealer in Berlin. In the painting Mariette and Tan are in the center of the painting surrounded by the grotesque gossiping towns people who are warring carnival masks and taunting the couple. Ensor in the painting exaggerates color, form, and lines. He uses combinations of colors to intensify and show vibrant effects. He use the expressionist method in this painting by intensifying the colors he uses to help created a sense  of life and emotion. James Sidney Edouard Ensor was born April 13th 1860 and lived until November 19th 1949. He was a Belgian painter and a printmaker. His biggest influences were expressionism and surrealism. Ensor died of a short illness in 1949. He lived his entire life in Ostend, Belgium and traveled only a few times in his life. He was an expressionist in the way that he created such color and conveyed such emotion in his works of art. His works of art include The Dangerous Cooks, Intrigue, and Self Portrait with Masks.  I chose this artist because he was really deeply involved in the expressionist method and really puts a meaning into every work of art he created.