Baron James Ensor
Belgian, 1860-1949

Still Life with Fish and Shells, 1898

Oil on canvas
31 7/8 x 39 1/2 in. (81 x 100.5 cm)
Inscribed in lower right: Ensor
Gift of Mary and Leigh Block, 1978.96

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, Exposition de cent oeuvres de James Ensor, January 7–18, 1920, cat. 27.

Antwerp, Kunst von Heden–L’Art Contemporain, May 7–29, 1921, cat. 117.

Wolvandael (Brussels), Château de Wolvandael, Exposition de la collection F. Van Haelen, May 10–25, 1924, cat. 44.

Brussels, Palais des Beaux–Arts, Rétrospective James Ensor, January 19–February 17, 1929, cat. 225.

Ostende, Kursaal, Oeuvres de James Ensor, August 11–18, 1931, cat. 52.

Brussels, Exposition Universelle et Internationale, Exposition D’Art Moderne, January 5–11, 1935, cat. 122.

Charleroi, Salle de la Bourse, Cercle Artistique et Littéraire, XXIIIe Salon: Hommage à James Ensor, March 19–April 4, 1949, cat. 34.

Paris, Gazette des Beaux–Arts, Ensor, June–July, 1939, cat. 45.

Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, Hommage a James Ensor, October 12–November 4, 1945, cat. 85.

Brussels, Galerie du Siècle, Ensor, Peintures, Eaux–fortes, June 2–18, 1948, cat. 9.

Ostende, Palais des Thermes, Glories de la Peinture Moderne: Homage a James Ensor, July 23–August 22, 1949, cat. 17.

Brussels, Palais des Beaux–Arts, Les peintures de la mer: XIVe Salon–Hommage à James Ensor, March 4–19, 1950, cat. 28.

Antwerp, Musée Royal des Beaux–Arts, Rétrospective: James Ensor, July 16–August 15, 1951, cat. 117 (ill.).

Ostende, Galeries Royales, La Peinture Sous Le Signe de la Mer, August 5–September 4, 1951, cat. 48.

Washington D. C., The National Gallery of Art, 100 European Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Leigh B. Block, May–June 11, 1967; traveled to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, September 21–November 2, 1967, cat. 23 (ill.), and Boston, Mass., Museum of Fine Arts, February 2–April 14, 1968, cat. 24 (ill.).

The Art Institute of Chicago, Ensor, November 6, 1976–January 3, 1977, cat. 26 (ill.); traveled to New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, January 27–April 10, 1977.

Brussells, Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, James Ensor, September 24, 1999–February 13, 2000.

Publication History

Emile Verhaeren, James Ensor (Brussels, 1908), p. 120.

Bulletin et Catalogue des Expositions James Ensor (Brussels, 1920), p. 4.

Grégorie le Roy, James Ensor (Brussels and Paris, 1922), p. 137.

François Fosca, James Ensor (Brussels, 1929), no. 225.

André de Ridder, James Ensor (Paris, 1930), no. 38 (ill.).

Paul Fierens, James Ensor (Brussels, 1943), no. 97 (color ill.).

Paul Haesaerts, Ensor (New York, 1959), no. 114.

Francine–Claire Legrand, Ensor, cet inconnu (Brussels, 1971), p. 115.

Richard Brettell, Post–Impressionists (New York, 1987), pp. 22 (ill.), 23.

Francine–Claire Legrand, Ensor (Brussels, 1990), pp. 87, 127, no. 182.

Xavier Tricot, James Ensor: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings vol. 2 (Antwerp, 1992), p. 375, no. 376 (ill.).

Francine–Claire Legrand, Ensor, la mort et le charme: Un autre Ensor (Antwerp, 1993), pp. 91 (ill.), 220 (color ill.), 258.

John Gedo, The Artist and the Emotional World: Creativity and Personality (New York, 1996), p. 133 (ill.).

Ownership History

A. Jungers, Brussels by1908 [according to Verhaeren 1908 and Tricot 1992]. F. van Haelen, Brussels by 1920 [according to exh. cat. 1920] until at least 1939 [according to exh. cat. 1939]. Mme Cl. van Weyenbergh, Ressaix and Quaregnon by 1943 [according to Fierens 1943] until at least 1951 [according to exh. cat. 1951]. Possibly Sam Salz, Inc., New York [according to Salz’s label on the reverse of the painting]. Leigh B. Block, Chicago by 1967; given to the Art Institute, 1978.