About This Artwork

James Ensor
Belgian, 1860-1949

Portrait of the Artist's Niece in Chinese Costume, 1899

Watercolor over graphite, retouched in pen and ink, on light tan wove paper
638 x 497 mm (sheet)
Signed in ink and red and blue watercolor: "J. Ensor 99"; inscribed verso, in graphite: "Portrait de ma nièce Madame R. Daveluy, fille de Madame Marie Ensor, peint en 1899. / J. Ensor"
Helen Regenstein Collection, 1972.426

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

Palm Beach, Fla., Society of Four Arts, "Drawings from The Art Institute of Chicago," January 5–27, 1974, cat. 17.

The Art Institute of Chicago, "The Helen Regenstein Collection of European Drawings," 1974, pp. 158-59, cat. 78 (ill.), cat. by Harold Joachim.

New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, "James Ensor," January-April 1977, cat. 48, cat. by John D. Farmer; traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago, November 6, 1976-January 2, 1977.

The Art Institute of Chicago, "The Regenstein Collection of European Drawings," 1985-1986.

Kunsthaus Zürich, "James Ensor," May 5-July 31, 1983, cat. 253; traveled to Antwerp Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, August 20-October 30, 1983.

Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique, "James Ensor," September 24, 1999-February 13, 2000, cat. 253.

Publication History

Grégoire le Roy, James Ensor (Brussels and Paris 1922), p. 187.

Ownership History

Camille Gutt (died 1971), Brussels, Belgium, by 1971; sold, Sotheby’s, London, April 12, 1972, lot 87, to Hale. Sold by E. V. Thaw, New York, to the Art Institute, 1972.