Literature: Jacques Putman: “Alechinsky”, Fratelli Fabbri Editori, Milano 1967, reproduced p. 115. Provenance: Galerie Birch, Copenhagen. Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.

Pierre Alechinsky’s early 1960s oeuvre includes an extensive series of works, all bearing the word “Fête” in their title. This painting is the young artist’s homage to the old master James Ensor, the Belgian painter and printmaker. In the late 1900s, Ensor painted, among other things, grotesque and satirical masked figures, rendered in pure, luminous colours. In his 1963 work “Fête d’Ensor”, Alechinsky has recreated some of Ensor’s demons, but here they appear friendlier, gentler and quieter in nature – smiling almost. Indeed, Alechinsky’s entire repertoire of masks and feather headdresses was deeply inspired by Belgian folk festivals.