The object in context
James Ensor’s The Strange Masks appears in the museum’s 2016 selection. A mask offers a productive gap between an outward face and what a viewer supposes about the figure behind it.
Try this when you look
Describe three faces before giving any of them a personality. Compare eyes, mouth and direction of gaze. Which feature supports your reading, and which part of the story have you supplied yourself?
Before you visit
The campaign blog connects this work with a photograph of Ensor. Treat a comparison as a question about transformation, not proof that a painting must reproduce a single photographic moment. Confirm the current presentation with the museum.
- Whole image — Describe the strongest visible contrast.
- Locate a detail — Follow a colour, gesture or line.
- Compare — Test your observation on a second work.
- Question — Ask what evidence could change your reading.