Sarah van Ooteghem

While Belgian artist James Ensor (1860–1949) is forever associated with his seaside hometown of Ostend, it was in the bustling capital of Brussels that he thrived as an artist and emerged as a central figure in the European avant-garde. The young painter settled in the city in 1877 and considered Brussels his second home until the turn of the century. This lavishly illustrated book explores the allure of Brussels, taking readers on a journey to discover the pivotal places, encounters and events that shaped Ensor as both an artist and a human being. With the master as a guide, the Belgian capital unfolds as a melting pot of prosperous bourgeois and struggling bohemians, conservative critics and rebellious artists, lively theatres and shadowy cafés. This publication showcases more than two hundred works by Ensor from the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB). These comprehensive collections date back to the 1890s, representing the oldest public holdings of the ‘painter of masks’Royal Library of Belgium February 22 - June 2 2024

A selection of 85 Flemish drawings gives an astonishing and representative overview of the art of drawing in the 16th and 17th centuries. The publication focusses on the drawings subjects and compositions but also on how and why they were created and why an artist chose specific materials, techniques, formats and even sizes. It provides a framework to allow to see drawings in the functional context for which they were created. Renowned specialists in Flemish drawing discuss rare artworks by famous draughtsmen as Frans Floris, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, Jacques Jordaens, Otto van Veen, Jan Fijt but also hidden treasures such as the 10 metres long Panorama of Zeeland by Antoon van den Wijngaerde, a sketchbook of the 12-year-old Rubens, recently discovered drawings by Hans Vredeman de Vries, the extremely rare Italy-sketchbooks by the sculptor Pieter Verbruggen and a newly discovered book-illustration design by Rubens for the Plantin Press.