The Rooftops of Ostend is an

oil-on-canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

by the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

painter

James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic g ...

. This painting is on the official inventory of Flemish masterpieces. ''The Rooftops of Ostend'' is in the possession of

Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen'', ''KMSKA'') is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth t ...

Background

Ensor painted the view of his window from his attic studio three times during his career. The artist's attic studio was located in his parental home in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. However, it is difficult to determine which parts of Ostend was depicted in this painting since the city has changed significantly from Ensor's time. Ensor never travelled afar in search of exotic or extraordinary settings. He was mostly interested in his immediate surroundings and was able to find enough inspiration for painting in Ostend, since he was intrigued by the nearby sea as well as Ostend's townscape.

Description

Storm is the main theme of the painting. The stormy clouds covering the city of Ostend attract the viewer's attention, and only a small portion of the painting depicts the roofs and the houses. Ensor's delicate use of dark colours and the scarcity of light depict a threatening landscape that suggests a near destruction for the city. This portrayal of Ostend is surprising and inconsistent with Ensor's writings and notes in which he praises Ostend and his native land.

References

External links

Official website of Lukas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooftops of Ostend, The 1884 paintings Paintings by James Ensor Paintings in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp Belgian art Cities in art