The Groove 173 - How to be a Maverick
HOW TO BE A MAVERICK
A maverick is a renegade of thought and action, a spirited iconoclast who gleefully dances on the edges of established norms and conventions. These are the people who wield the banner of nonconformity like a battle flag, and charge forward with a relentless spirit of innovation and autonomy. Mavericks aren't just pioneers; they're audacious trailblazers, setting the world in flames with the fire of originality. And yes, you can be one too.
James Ensor, a maverick of the avant-garde, left an indelible mark in the art world with his unbridled creativity and penchant for pushing boundaries. His legacy transcends the constraints of time, resonating with audiences across generations. He defies categorization, embodying a captivating blend of myriad personas. If there’s a fascinating, eccentric, and enigmatic artist in the Europe of the late 1800s, it’s him.
Turn Rejection Into Your Biggest Asset
James Ensor in his studio in Ostend, Belgium ca. 1890.
Ensor has been called “the enfant terrible” of the late 1800s and a “rebel” who didn’t abide by any of the rules taught in art school. In fact, he considered innovation as an end in itself; and he encouraged the exploration of divergent styles, subjects, or genres during times when things were expected to be structured and follow a certain directive.
Growing up in the very small town of Ostend, Belgium, Ensor spent hours every day in his mother’s curio shop around "shells, lace, rare stuffed fish, old books, engravings, weapons, Chinese porcelain, an inextricable jumble of miscellaneous objects," including the carnival masks that later became constant motifs in his work.
The artist was obsessed with light, both as a painter and as someone who cherished the warmer months of the coastal town where he lived all his life. In one of his experiments, he made a series of enormous drawings between 1885-1886 titled “Visions. The Haloes of Christ or The Sensitivities of Light,” which were presented at the Brussels Salon des XX in 1887 to a lukewarm response. Instead, Seurat's “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte” was the star of the show.
James Ensor. L'Intense. Le Christ montant au ciel, 1885
It would be a lie to say that Ensor took it well, he didn’t like rejection and failure. However, this event lit a fire in him and precipitated a shift in his work where he started to employ bold colors and cartoonish figures inspired in part by the carnival of Ostend and his mother’s shop. In 1888, he attempted to combine all the things that moved him: light, the intensity of colors, innovation, social commentary, masks, humor, and irony. The result is the monumental 14.2-feet-long “Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889,” finished in 1888.
As Belgium grappled with industrialization, labor movements and colonial interests in Africa, Ensor figured that he would capture it all in “Christ’s Entry.” The mob represented politicians and figures of the Belgium society that Ensor mocked and criticized, while Christ was the spokesman for the oppressed. But the painting was way too ahead of its time and it appalled the viewers.
Ensor believed it to be his masterpiece and kept it prominently displayed in his home studio until 1929, when it was exhibited at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels. The artist was right all along. Not only is “Christ’s Entry” widely considered a forerunner of 20th Century Expressionism, but after changing owners a few times post Ensor’s death in 1949, the Getty Museum bought it from a Belgian banker and collector in 1987 for $9 million (approximately $25 million today) - a true bargain then and now given the importance (and scale) of this work. It’s considered the best painting in the Getty’s collection.
Mavericks think about failures as the unsung architects of triumph. Every setback, stumble, and misstep contribute to a grand design of resilience. Your failures are not anchors but propellers, launching you toward a future with the wisdom gleaned from lessons learned.
Bridge A Gap
James Ensor, Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889, 1888, oil on canvas.
If you see a chasm between two or more things that seem dissimilar, think about bridging a gap between them. Mavericks see the white space and like skilled architects weaving a bridge between two seemingly distant shores, they endeavor to unite divergent concepts, ideologies, or disciplines.
Ensor's art thrived amidst chaos. His canvases and drawings teemed with frenetic energy, populated by the grotesque. He fearlessly plundered the realm of popular imagery and illustration, typically relegated to the depths of "low art," and transmuted it with audacious flair into the hallowed sanctum of high art. He bridged the gap between “high and low”.
In a letter written in 1894, he said that art should be as grand and compelling as Richard Wagner's music. He professed that he did not believe in searching for carefully considered forms that approach an ideal of beauty because "a correct line cannot inspire lofty feelings, it cannot express passion, anxiety, struggle, sorrow, enthusiasm, poetry ... those beautiful and grand feelings.... Wagner aroused my enthusiasm ... I glimpsed an enormous and magnificent world."
Why does Ensor remain so relevant today? Because by working to find his own style, he looked around and found that the injustices and absurdities of his time could be portrayed as caricatures. This opened a door for contemplating serious topics through humor, satire, and weird characters, showing us the importance of confronting uncomfortable truths in unusual ways.
Belgium had barely witnessed an interracial marriage, especially in Ostend. So it was quite a scandal when Ensor released "The Intrigue" in 1890. In it he unleashed a burst of rebellious color as he painted his sister, Mariette, rocking electric blue hair and a bold green cape, hand in hand with her top-hatted fiancé, Tan Hée Tseu, a flamboyant Chinese art dealer from Berlin. Sparks fly as the couple's engagement sets Ensor's hometown ablaze. In an audacious act of retaliation, the artist immortalizes the town's nosy gossips behind masks, exposing the hypocrisy and duplicity that often lurk beneath societal norms.
By encouraging us to scrutinize our own masks, Ensor prompts introspection and challenges us to question the conventions that govern our existence. In doing so, he provides a mirror through which we can examine our own roles within the intricate tapestry of society.
Avoid Banality
James Ensor, The Intrigue, 1888, oil on canvas.
I’ve mentioned here a few times that because we live glued to our phones and consume an inordinate amount of images every day, that art, fashion, design, architecture and even people's faces are starting to look the same. That’s banality.
Ensor fervently declared that there was no greater wrongdoing than to create something banal. According to this artistic provocateur, the formidable weapon against banality lay in the relentless exploration of diverse manières—an expansive realm encompassing subjects, techniques, genres, and conceptual approaches. In his resolute stance against mediocrity, Ensor not only condemned the mundane but championed a dynamic arsenal of artistic exploration, urging creators to transcend the ordinary and venture into the uncharted territories of innovation and audacity.
Undoubtedly, Ensor was a weird guy who pursued many different interests. Beyond the canvas, he orchestrated a symphony of creativity, emphasizing his musical prowess with the creation of a groundbreaking ballet, "La Gamme d'amour," in 1911. Not content with merely composing the music, he also birthed the libretto and curated the dazzling décor and costumes, showcasing a mastery that transcended the traditional boundaries of artistic expression.
Ensor was an activist against animal cruelty and pro-preservationist of old buildings. He liked to present his arguments for these causes as a public speaker in front of large audiences. His entire persona and his oeuvre are a testament to the power of embracing one's uniqueness. In a world often consumed by conformity, he was a true maverick who dared to paint outside the lines, both literally and metaphorically.
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