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Masks are James Ensor's trademark. From 1880 onwards, they appear regularly in his paintings and drawings. The same ones, in many cases, and often even in the identical position. In almost each case, they are carnival masks that his mother sold in her souvenir shop. Several of them can be seen in old photographs of Ensor in his studio. He might have posed models using masks and costumes.
Some of the masks have survived. They now belong to the Ensor House museum in Ostend and to private collections. Ensor wrote of his masks in Les Ecrits de James Ensor: 'Hounded by imitators, I have retreated to the lonely land of mockery, where reigns the mask, full of violence, light and brilliance. The mask says to me: fresh tones, a sumptuous décor, broad unexpected gestures, intense, exquisite turbulence.'
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