Group show
Ensor – Picasso. Masquerades
13 Mar 2021 — 20 Jun 2021 at Building of the Winterthur Museum of Art
· Winterthur
This temporary exhibition at the Winterthur Museum of Art brings together works by James Ensor and Pablo Picasso, two pivotal figures of modern art whose practices intersected around the compelling theme of masquerade. Through paintings, prints, and drawings, the exhibition traces how both artists employed masks, costumes, and carnival imagery to explore questions of identity, social critique, and the performative nature of human existence.
Ensor's grotesque and phantasmagorical visions of masked figures and carnival scenes established a distinctive visual language that challenged conventional representation. Picasso, in turn, drew inspiration from similar theatrical and masquerade traditions, integrating them into his revolutionary formal innovations. By placing their works in dialogue, the exhibition illuminates the shared modernist preoccupation with disguise as a tool for both artistic expression and social commentary.
Ensor's grotesque and phantasmagorical visions of masked figures and carnival scenes established a distinctive visual language that challenged conventional representation. Picasso, in turn, drew inspiration from similar theatrical and masquerade traditions, integrating them into his revolutionary formal innovations. By placing their works in dialogue, the exhibition illuminates the shared modernist preoccupation with disguise as a tool for both artistic expression and social commentary.
About the artist
James Ensor
1860–1949 · Expressionism
James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.
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Pablo Picasso
1881–1973 · cubism
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety…
About the artist →About the venue
