Duivels rossen engelen en aartsengelen af 1888

This is James Ensor’s “Devils thrashing angels and archangels," an etching rendered in 1888. From a distance, the eye is met with a swarm of pale figures, a textured plane of muted colours teeming with creatures and conflict. But as you approach, the piece reveals itself to be a tightly woven battle scene, an anarchic clash between good and evil, rendered with grotesque figures and a sense of chaotic energy. Ensor’s use of line is particularly striking. It is through the density and direction of these lines that the composition takes shape, with dense cross-hatching creating darker, more shadowed regions, and sparser lines defining the lighter areas. In this melee, Ensor challenges traditional artistic conventions, subverting expectations of harmony and order. Instead, he offers a visual language that aligns with the growing anxieties of modernity. The lack of central focus underscores a sense of disorientation, an aesthetic strategy that invites us to question established norms. Ensor uses this disorder to deconstruct moral and aesthetic conventions. The etching’s complex lines offer a visual metaphor for the fragmentation of meaning, a battle not only between angels and devils, but between tradition and modernity.