On 28 September, Antwerp received the Ensorian torch from Ostend. The city on the Scheldt pays tribute to the Belgian artist James Ensor with four diverse, world-class exhibitions. They comprehensively show how the artist continues to inspire contemporary artists.
Antwerp City Hall on 24 September hosted, I would swing the word ‘inauguration’ of 4 exhibitions in 4 of the city’s top museums:
1 Ensors stoutste dromen. Het impressionisme voorbij, KMSKA
2 Maskerade, make-up & Ensor, MoMu
3 Cindy Sherman, FOMU
4 Ensors staten van verbeelding, Museum Plantin-Moretus

What connects Antwerp to Ensor? A shared, surprising look beyond the everyday. It is no coincidence that many of his works ended up in Antwerp during his lifetime. Today, these works form the basis of the ‘James Ensor Collection’ at KMSKA (the largest in the world), which serves as the starting point for Ensor’s research project.
In his work ‘mask and skeleton artist’ shows himself to be a game changer: often with a wink and always innovative. These qualities make him eternally relevant. Antwerp chooses unexpected angles to shed light on the work of the master of symbolism. How do we see echoes of Ensor in art, fashion and photography? How does he continue to inspire and what can we learn from him today?
Let me remind you that 2024 has been declared the year of James Ensor in Belgium.