Stilleven met chinoiserieën, 1907

On a table with a blue tablecloth are various oriental objects, including statuettes, masks, a high blue vase with a fan in it, a greenish jug and a milky white fan. At the top left, an Oriental drawing with predominantly blue, yellow and dark red tones hangs on the wall. The souvenir shop in Ostend run by Ensor's mother was an incredible source of inspiration for the artist: the shells, carnival masks and other curiosities keep recurring in Ensor's work. There are, for instance, several still lifes with chinoiseries by his hand. During the official salons, the artist clashed several times with the classical ideal of beauty, and his oeuvre can hardly be categorised in a specific movement or style. As an artist, he sought the blissful and attached great importance to the underlying meaning of the everyday and disregarded the rules of the academy. The artist liked to place himself at the centre as a permanent innovator of the visual arts and as an outspoken avant-gardist.

• This work is part of the museum’s main collection. It was included in the inventory of the donation from Jules and Irma Dhondt-Dhaenens that was compiled at the board meeting on 03.06.1967.