James Ensor - The Gamblers

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The Gamblers

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James Ensor

The Gamblers

Galerie Oscar de Vos

Date 1895

Period 1890-1900, 1890s

Origin Safe

Medium Etching in black on simili-Japan paper

Dimension 11.4 x 15.5 cm (4¹/₂ x 6¹/₈ inches)

The etching "The Gamblers" is based on the chalk drawing of the same name from circa 1890 (private collection). The theme with a clearly satirical and caricatured character is characteristic of Ensor's work from the early 1890s. Ensor also gave the performance the title "Le ponte déconfit": this is a player against the bank, who apparently amidst this casino visitors are on the losing side. There is also a free version of this print in lithography that was published in the September 1896 issue of the magazine La Ligue Artistique. The viewer gets, as it were, an overview of the Ensorian vision of man behind the gaming table. The only real person, as the central figure, is the player who desperately wonders why he has no better cards. Money plays the main role here. The cashier's attitude, on the left, doesn't leave much to the imagination. The collection, almost monstrous, tronies and the stern figure of some sort of police officer behind the player only make it worse. The player is one of the most convincing human figures in Ensor's etching. Has he seen that man at a gaming table in the local casino or is it all imagination? The fact is that this type of figures returns later in Flemish expressionism, with Frits Van den Berghe.

Date: 1895

Period: 1890-1900, 1890s

Origin: Safe

Medium: Etching in black on simili-Japan paper

Signature: Signed in plate lower left: Ensor; signed and dated in pencil lower right: James Ensor 1895

Dimension: 11.4 x 15.5 cm (4¹/₂ x 6¹/₈ inches)

Literature: - Delteil, L., Le Peintre graveur illustré : H. Les, H. de Braekeleer, J. Ensor, vol. XIX (Paris: 1925), no. 92 (ill.).
- Croquez, A., L'Œuvre gravé de James Ensor - Catalogue raisonné (Paris: Maurice Le Garrec, 1935), no. 92 (ill.).
- Taevenier, A., Graphic works of James Ensor. Illustrated catalogue of his engravings their critical description and inventary of the plates (Ghent: Erasmus Ledeberg, 1973), no. 93 (ill.).
- Elesh, J.N., James Ensor The Complete Graphic Work (The Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 141) (New York: Abaris Books, 1982), no. 94 (ill.).
- Tricot, X., James Ensor. The Complete Prints (Roeselaere: Defiac, 2010), 191, 294, no. 99b (ill.).
- Becker, J. et.al., James Ensor. Visionär der Moderne. Gemälde, Zeichnungen und das druckgraphische Werk aus der Sammlung Gerard Loobuyck (Albstadt: Galerie Albstadt, 1999), 107 (ill.).
- Cooke, L., A. Taevenier et. al., James Ensor. Etchings from the collection of 'Gemeentekrediet België' exh. cat. (Brussels: Gemeentekrediet van België, 1978), 47, no. 70 (ill.).
- Van de Velde, R., James Ensor 1860-1949, exh. cat. (Antwerp: Galerie Ronny Van de Velde, 2005), no. 25 (ill.).
- De Geest, J., dans: "l'Art du jeu" (Annemie Buffels, direction générale), 75 ans de Loterie Nationale (Fonds Mercator, 2009), p. 178-179.
- De Geest, J., dans: "Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen. La collection de la Loterie Nationale" (Openbaar kunstbezit in Vlaanderen, 2015).
- Muchembled, R., dans: "L'enchantement du jeu" (Annemie Buffels, direction générale), Loteries en Europe (Loterie Nationale, 2004), p. 45.
- Bateau Lavoir, Paris, 1978, no. 92.
- Strasbourg/Basel, 1995-96, no. 106.

Exhibition: - Ghent, Museum of Fine Arts, inv. no. 1998-B-93.

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