De hoofdzonden gedomineerd door de Dood 1904

James Ensor made this etching, "The Seven Deadly Sins Dominated by Death" in 1904, and it's like a party gone wrong, a really awkward family gathering, a nightmare of faces. The colors are wild, almost acidic – that sickly green skin, the lurid reds, all fighting for attention. Look at the way he's scratched into the plate, leaving this nervous energy in every line. It's like he's attacking the surface, trying to exorcise these demons. And that skull looming above? It's not just death; it's a reminder that all this drama, all this sin, is ultimately futile. I keep coming back to the faces. They're grotesque, but there's something deeply human in their ugliness. The colors are laid down in a flurry of marks and dashes. There's no single clear vision, it's all just this roiling mess of impulse, like a painting by George Grosz, all sharp edges and bitter satire. Ensor embraces the messy, the unresolved, the uncomfortable truth that we're all a bit monstrous, and I love him for it.