Avarice 1904

James Ensor made this etching, called 'Avarice,' and look at the way he attacks the plate! There is this raw intensity in the marks, like he’s digging into something unpleasant, a sort of collective nightmare. The etching is all scratchy lines and weird little details. Look at the way he renders the figures, grotesque and almost cartoonish, with their exaggerated features and crazed expressions. It's like he's peeling back the surface to reveal something disturbing underneath. Notice the way he’s built up the shadows with cross-hatching, creating a sense of depth and texture. The colors are acidic, too, like they’re about to drip off the surface. It reminds me a bit of Goya's darker works. Ensor wasn’t interested in beauty, but in something much more complicated, more human. His work is a reminder that art can be a mirror reflecting back the messy, uncomfortable truths about ourselves.