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Artist or Maker: James Ensor (1860-1949)
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Provenance: Augusta Boogaerts (1870-1951), Brussels.
M. Claes-Boogaerts, Brussels.
M. Mabille, Rhode-St-Genèse.
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 1993.
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Exhibited: Antwerp, Cercle Royal Artistique et Littéraire, Le groupe
Sélection, July - August 1920, no. 74.
Antwerp, Kunst van Heden - L'Art Contemporain, May - June 1927, no. 245.
Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Rétrospective James Ensor,
January - February 1929, no. 245.
Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, Hommage à James Ensor, October - November 1945, no. 93.
Paris, Galerie du Siècle, Ensor, peintures-eaux-fortes, June 1948, no. 11.
Boitsfort, Maison Haute, 5ème Salon: James Ensor, April - May 1950, no. 30.
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, James Ensor, October 1951, no. 56; this exhibition later travelled to Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art; Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art; and St Louis, The City Art Museum.
Ostend, Stedelijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, July - August 1960, no. 83.
Brussels, Galerie Isy Brachot, Ensor dans les collections privées, December 1965 - January 1966, no. 27.
Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, L'Art flamand, d'Ensor à Permeke, February - April 1970, no. 71.
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Ensor to Permeke, nine flemish painters 1880-1950, September - November 1971, no. 135.
Paris, Musée du Petit Palais, James Ensor, April - July 1990, no. 214 (illustrated in colour p. 237).
Utrecht, Centraal Museum, James Ensor 1860-1949, Schilderijen, tekeningen en grafiek, enn selectie uit Belgisch en Nederlands bezit, August - October 1993, no. S.40 (illustrated in colour).
Brussels, Galerie Patrick Derom, Ensor, la mort et le charme, un autre Ensor, April - June 1994.
Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Ensor, September 1999 - February 2000, no. 148 (illustrated in colour p. 211).
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Literature: J. Ensor, Memoranda 'Nos deux portraits', 1905.
G. Le Roy, p. 191 (titled 'Portrait de Mlle A.B.' and dated '1908').
P. Haesaerts, James Ensor, Brussels, 1957, no. 372 (illustrated p. 347).
F.C. Legrand, Ensor cet inconnu, Brussels, 1971, no. 196 (illustrated p. 28).
G. Ollinger-Zinque, Ensor par lui-même, Brussels, 1976, no. 83 (illustrated p. 132).
G. Ollinger-Zinque, Ensor, een zelfportret, Brussels, 1977, no. 83 (illustrated p. 136).
J. Janssens, James Ensor, Naefels, 1978 (illustrated in colour p. 88).
R. Delevoy, Ensor, Antwerp, 1981, no. 303 (illustrated p. 382).
D. Lesko, James Ensor, the creative years, Princeton, 1985, p. 147 (illustrated fig. 110).
X. Tricot, James Ensor, Catalogue raisonné of the paintings, vol. II, 1902-1941, Antwerp, 1992, no. 397 (illustrated p. 408).
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Notes: THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
The present work depicts a double portrait of the artist and Augusta Boogaerts (fig. 1). Augusta Boogaerts (1870-1951) was the daughter of an Ostend hotelier who became the artist's close companion in the late 1880s. Their singular friendship was to last over 60 years. Called La Sirène (The Mermaid) by Ensor, Augusta remained single like the artist throughout her life and was to have a significant influence upon his life and work. It was Boogaerts who composed the numerous still-lifes with trinkets and seashells painted by Ensor in the 1930s. She also handled the sale of his works.
In her book, James Ensor, the creative years, Diane Lesko writes about Ensor's relationships with women. About Boogaerts in Nos deux portraits she writes: 'she is shown fully dressed, with her gloves on, a fur stole in her lap, and a large flowered hat on her head. The hint of a smile is evident as she looks towards the window at the left edge of the painting. In her right hand she holds a flower; flowers also lie at her feet, seemingly having fallen from a vase on the table... There is a sense of light intrigue here, of cladestine moments stolen by unmarried lovers. Despite the painting's charm, however, the portrait hints at a psychic and physical distance that exists and will remain between the lovers: their heads and bodies are turned in opposite directions and Ensor has further distanced himself from Augusta by portraying his image as across the room, reflected in the glass of a mirrored wardrobe' (D. Lesko, op. cit., p. 147-148).
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