Hop-Frog's Revenge (La Vengeance de Hop-Frog)
Etching, 1898, Taevernier 112 (ii/II), edition unknown. 14 x 9 3/4 in. Signed and dated in the plate. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right. Titled in pencil, lower left, and with an extensive pencil dedication below at left. This is a superb impression printed on cream-colored Japanese paper. The margins are wide and possibly full. The condition is fine apart from a couple of minor spots in the upper left corner margin well away from the image. This large and important work relates to a short story by Edgar Allan Poe in which the dwarf, Hop-Frog, is the king's jester and takes his revenge on the king and his ministers for a wrong done to his friend, Tripetta. The print is dedicated in pencil, "Pour Madame Steyns, pour ses yeux d'agrément, ses pommettes roses et d'api, et son esprit charmant et de Gand, J. Ensor." (For Miss Steyns, for her pleasant eyes, her pink cheekbones and flush/crisp, and her charming spirit and of Ghent.) "d'api" refers to "pomme d'api" and it's a play on the word "pommettes". It's a reference to a kind of apple that's crisp and flush. As for the rhyme of "charmant" and "Gand," it's probably meant to be cute, as in: she's got charming spirit and she is also from Ghent. The idea here is this is meant to a clever, flirtatious rhyme; not 100% coherent. This dedication is to Elsa Steyns but we have not yet turned up any information about her.
SOLD

Skeltons Seeking to Warm Themselves (Squelettes Voulant se Chauffer)
Etching, 1886, Taevernier 98 (ii/II), Croquez 98, Delteil 98; edition unknown. 5 1/2 x 4 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. Signed dated and titled in pencil. (The verso is also countersigned in pencil across the sheet and titled in pencil along the bottom edge.) This is a superb, luminous impression on Japan paper, printed with plate tone. The margins appear to be full and uncut. (There are two small, previous hinges on the right edge, verso, not affecting the front.) This exemplary and memorable print relates closely to to oil painting now in the Kimbell Art Museum on Forth Worth Texas. It's considered on of his masterpieces. "Understood as a scene in an artist's studio, "Skeletons Trying to Warm Themselves" resembles a vignette from the popular medieval and early Renaissance print cycles of the Dance of Death..." (See the description of the painting found on the website of the Kimbell.)
SOLD

The Cathedral (first plate)
Etching, 1886, Taevernier 7 (iii/III), edition unknown. 9 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. Signed and dated in the plate, upper right. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right. Countersigned in pencil across the verso. This is a fine impression printed on sturdy Japanese paper. The margins are wide and probably full. The condition is very good. This early work by Ensor is a tour de force of the etching medium and a landmark work for Belgian printmaking in the late 19th century.
SOLD

The Deadly Sins, Dominated by Death (Les Péchés Capitaux, Dominés par la Mort)
Etching, 1904, Taevernier 126, Elesh 126, only state; edition unknown. 5 1/2 x 3 5/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed, dated and titled in pencil. The print is also counter signed on the verso by the artist. This is a very fine impression printed on simili-Japan paper. The sheet is exceptionally large measuring 19 5/8 x 12 5/8 in. The condition is fine apart from an exceedingly faint suggestion of toning within an earlier mat opening. This work was the introductory image for the portfolio called "The Deadly Sins" which consisted of eight etchings by Ensor and a preface by Eugène Demolder. Demolder describes it in the following terms, "The frontispiece brings the seven deadly sins together under a symbolic death's head with black-feathered wings." (Unidentified collector's mark, verso.)
SOLD

The Orchard (Le Verger)
Etching, 1886, Taevernier 2 (iii/III), Croquez 2, Delteil 2; edition unknown. 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. Signed and dated (1888) in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on Japan paper with plate tone. The margins are probably full. The condition is very good apart from toning along the extreme right edge of the sheet and traces of an old adhesive at the upper left and right corners from early hinges. There's an unidentified collector's mark on the verso. This is a proof impression before publication in the 1901 album of the Royal Society of Belgian Etchers. This engaging landscape is Ensor's second recorded etching.
$3,000

The Scavenger (Le Vidangeur)
Etching, 1896, Taevernier 106, Croquez 105; only state. 4 3/16 x 3 1/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed and dated in pencil. Countersigned on the verso and titled in pencil. This is a fine impression printed with light plate tone on a cream simili Japon paper. The condition is fine apart from three minor scuff marks in the margins, well away from the image. The margins are probably full measuring about 3 inches on all sides. This engaging little print reminds us of Rembrandt's many studies of beggars.
SOLD

View of the Ostend Harbour (Gezicht op de Haven van Oostende)
Etching, 1888, Taevernier 39 (i/II), Croquez 39 (i/II); edition unknown. 3 1/16 x 4 5/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed, dated and titled in pencil. The print is also countersigned in pencil. This is a fine impression of this uncommon early work. The margins are wide and probably full. The condition is excellent. The paper is a cream colored, sturdy wove. In the second state the date of 1888 was added above the etched signature. According to Taevernier, "We presume that this state is late made at the request of a collector, a friend of the elderly artist."
$2,000