Bolhoed en schoen 1880 - 1885

James Ensor made this drawing of a bowler hat and a shoe, using pencil on paper. While seemingly a simple still life, the objects depicted, common in 19th-century Belgium, carry social weight. The bowler hat was a symbol of the bourgeoisie, while the shoe suggests the working class. Ensor often depicted modern Belgian society through satire, so we might consider these objects stand-ins for social classes. The quick, sketch-like quality, typical of Ensor's style, adds a sense of immediacy, as if capturing a fleeting moment of societal observation. To understand Ensor's work fully, one must delve into the archives of Belgian social history. We need to examine political cartoons, period literature, and the documents of art institutions. The context is essential. By researching these sources, we see how art actively engages with and comments on its contemporary world.