James Ensor, The Skeleton Painter (1895 or 1896), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SABAM, Brussels

I have to admit that the Belgian painter James Ensor has never ranked very high among the modern artists I find most compelling nor occupied a conspicuous place in my mental image bank. I don’t suppose I have a really firm grip on more than a handful of his paintings, chiefly his best known work, the enormous Christ’s Entry into Brussels in 1889 (1888, J ...