Ensor at the Harmonium 1933

James Ensor, sometime around the turn of the century, made this painting with what looks like oil on canvas. You can see all the brushstrokes, right? Like, he wasn’t trying to hide his process, which I love. The surface is built up with so many layers of paint. It’s not quite impasto, but it’s definitely got some texture. Look at the way he’s used these little dabs of color to create the faces in the crowd. Each one is like a little world of its own. And the colors! They’re not realistic at all, but they create this amazing, almost feverish atmosphere. That crowded audience reminds me of some of Philip Guston’s later paintings, where he also creates these claustrophobic, almost cartoonish scenes. Both artists aren’t afraid to embrace ambiguity, to leave things open to interpretation. It’s like they’re saying, ‘Here’s a world, but it’s up to you to make sense of it.’