Visiting The New James Ensor House in Ostend (Belgium)

Recently, the James Ensor House in Ostend officially reopened its doors to the public in a fully renewed experience centre. This wholly refurbished experience will shed new light on James Ensor’s life, his artworks and his love for the city where he lived until he passed away: Ostend.

In the interest of discovering your own country, I decided to visit this new James Ensor House. In this post, you will read everything about my experiences; the good, the bad and the ugly.

Spoiler alert: there’s a whole lot of good and almost no bad or ugly.

Skip ahead:

Who was James Ensor?
What is the James Ensor House?
How to get to the James Ensor House
Discover more about James Ensor in Ostend
Fun facts about James Ensor
More information

Who was James Ensor?

Ensor’s life story

Portrait of James Ensor by Henry De Groux, 1907

Since I know you didn’t come here for a history lesson, I’ll just give you the quick summary.

James Ensor was born in 1860 to English parents. He initially studied engineering, but quickly lost interest and left school at the age of 15 to pursue his passion for art. Eventually, he would go on to study at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, but he didn’t care for the rules and conventions of the Academy.

After leaving the Academy in 1880, Ensor started using the attic of his parents’ house as his art studio. In his artwork, nothing is off-limits – Ensor made his own rules. Critics regarded much of his work at this time as scandalous.

The James Ensor House features an accurate reconstruction of his famous blue living room — The James Ensor House in Ostend features a reconstruction of Ensor’s famous blue living room (*het blauwe salon)*

In 1888, Ensor painted his most famous work of art: Christ’s Entry into Brussels in 1889.

Ensor died, unmarried, at the age of 89 in Ostend.

Today, his works of art are on display in many leading museums around the world, including the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), the Musée du Louvre (Paris), the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles).

Ensor’s style of painting

One of James Ensor's most recognisable paintings, L'Intrigue (1890) — *L’Intrigue*, James Ensor, 1890

Ensor’s paintings are easy to recognise by the depiction of skeletons, carnivals, puppetry and masks (which were inspired by the masks sold in his mother’s gift shop).

These works of art can best be described as eccentric and rebellious, a perfect representation of his life in and of itself. Through his art, Ensor criticised the establishment and expressed his outrage at concepts like hypocrisy, abuse of power and injustice.

In the late 19th century, Ensor eventually came into his most creative period. Although he was an atheist, Ensor often referred to and resonated with the suffering of Christ in his paintings.

James Ensor was, and for many remains to be, one of the unsung heroes of modern art. He was one of the driving forces behind artistic styles such as expressionism and surrealism.

What is the James Ensor House?

If you call the James Ensor House a museum, I guarantee that you’ll get a few dirty looks from the people who work there.

I’m just saying.

The new James Ensor House is an interactive experience centre where you can learn about Ensor’s life in a new and exciting way.

Originally, the Ensor Museum was a small museum dedicated to the artworks of James Ensor, but a recent renovation and purchase of the neighbouring building gave this place a major upgrade.

Today, a tailor-made audio guide walks you through five rooms in the James Ensor House, each one dedicated to one specific aspect of Ensor’s life and art. Also included are accurate reconstructions of the house where Ensor lived most of his life, with authentic furniture and artworks.

Your visit comes to an end in the museum itself, where real works of art painted or sketched by Ensor are on display.

How to get to the James Ensor House

The lobby to the James Ensor House in Ostend

There are a few different ways to get to the James Ensor House:

By train: Take any IC train to Ostend from Brussels, Antwerp or Kortrijk. The James Ensor House is within walking distance from the train station (12 minute walk).
By car: Take the E40 highway from Brussels or take the E17 highway from Antwerp and transfer to the E40. The nearest car parks to the James Ensor House are Indigo Parking Centrum and Parking Kursaal 2, both of which have dedicated parking spaces for people with disabilities.

If you’re not coming by train or by car, pop the following address into your favourite navigation app and follow the directions.

Vlaanderenstraat 29, 8400 Oostende

Discover more about James Ensor in Ostend

Since James Ensor spent most of his life living in Ostend, it should come as no surprise that the city decided to highlight this artist with other initiatives than the James Ensor House.

James Ensor interactive tour

Along with the reopening of the James Ensor House in Ostend, an app was released that will guide you on an interactive Ensor-themed tour through the city

Along with the opening of the James Ensor House, Visit Oostende developed a brand new Ensor-themed walk that takes you to all the locations that played a major role in the artist’s life.

The app that accompanies this walk enables visitors to see the City by the Sea through Ensor’s eyes.

The tour is guided by Ensor himself, who talks about his own tumultuous life, his many friends and the city that stole his heart.

Best of all: the tour is free for anyone who purchased a ticket to the James Ensor House. However, if you only want to do the tour, you’ll have to pay a one-time fee of €5,49.

The app is available in five languages (English, Dutch, French, German and Spanish) and is free to download in the App Store.

Mu.ZEE exhibition

Mu.ZEE has a wing dedicated to the works of Ensor and Spilliaert

Mu.ZEE (Ostend’s museum of modern art) has an entire wing dedicated to the works of James Ensor and Léon Spilliaert, another renowned painter from Ostend.

The exhibition, which is titled Two Masters of Ostend, aims to let artworks by Ensor and Spilliaert take the visitor back in time, to the Ostend they knew and loved.

Every work of art on display in this exhibition is accompanied by one or more anecdotes, recounting the lives of people like Edgar Allen Poe and Willy Finch.

Fun facts about James Ensor

Ensor inherited the now-called James Ensor House from his aunt and uncle, who sold shells and souvenirs in a small shop downstairs. After they passed away, Ensor kept this store the way it was. However, the shop never opened its doors to the public again.
James Ensor painted over 60 self-portraits. He was both confident and very sensitive to criticism.
One of Ensor’s absolute highlights of the year was the famed Bal du Rat Mort, an annual masquerade ball in Ostend. He also drew inspiration from this event for his paintings.
Critics often claim that the last 50 years of Ensor’s life were nothing but a slow artistic decline.