9. Masked intruders in the still life
In Mask Looking at Crustaceans, a work dating back to 1891, a Pierrot comes to look at what is on the table. A lobster, a crab, a jug, a generously filled glass. A Venetian mask dangles below the lobster. Ensor carved the words Viande de Carême, or fasting meat, almost illegibly in the right half. Will the Pierrot resist, or will he be tempted by the lobster, crab and wine on offer?
Ensor adds tension to the still life by introducing spectators, but they are grotesque, carnivalesque figures. The first masks appeared in his oeuvre in 1883, in the realist composition The Scandalized Masks. Later, as of 1886, Ensor developed the mask paintings with which his name became inextricably linked, culminating in The Entry of Christ into Brussels from 1889. But they also crop up in his still lifes, disturbing the calm in the 'theatre of things'.
Hence the Pierrot in Mask Looking at Crustaceans. Two masks also loom out of the sidelines in Red Cabbage, Fruit and Masks. Curiously, they are looking at the food. A red cabbage seems to be the star, outshining everything else. The same vegetable takes centre stage in Red Cabbage and Green Wine Glass.