James Sidney Ensor (1860 - 1949) Belgium Watercolor on Paper Measure 15"in H x 11 1/4"in W and 22 1/2"in H x 18 1/4"in W with frame. Known for: Figure, genre, interior and portrait painting James Sidney Ensor, Baron Ensor (April 13, 1860-November 19, 1949), was a Belgian painter whose portrayals of grotesque humanity made him a principal precursor of 20th-century Expressionism and Surrealism. Ensor was born in Ostend, Belgium, in 1860, and, except for three years spent at the Brussels Academy, from 1877 to 1880, he lived in Ostend all his life. His early works were of traditional subjects: landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and interiors painted in deep, rich colors and enriched by a subdued but vibrant light. In the mid-1880s, influenced by the bright color of the Impressionists and the grotesque imagery of earlier Flemish Primitives such as Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Ensor turned toward avant-garde themes and styles. He took his subject matter principally from Ostend's holiday crowds, which filled him with revulsion and disgust. Portraying individuals as clowns or skeletons or replacing their faces with carnival masks, he represented humanity as stupid, smirking, vain, and loathsome. He died in 1949 in Ostend, where there is now a museum devoted to his work. In 1994 a new audience was introduced to James Ensor when the group, "They Might Be Giants", released the song Meet James Ensor, which aptly describes him as "Belgium's famous painter."