Pollution Under, Pollution Over, Pollution All Around

The etching is a typical Ensorian joke featuring people from his immediate surroundings. In the centre are Ernest Rousseau, Mitche Ensor (the artist's sister), Ensor's friend Willy Finch and Mariette Rousseau. The woman with the child on the left and the fishermen on the right are depicted in caricature. The stench is omnipresent: from the poo on the ground, the…

The etching is a typical Ensorian joke featuring people from his immediate surroundings. In the centre are Ernest Rousseau, Mitche Ensor (the artist's sister), Ensor's friend Willy Finch and Mariette Rousseau. The woman with the child on the left and the fishermen on the right are depicted in caricature. The stench is omnipresent: from the poo on the ground, the breath from Finch's mouth, etc. The coloured print is a faithful copy (mirror image) of the chalk drawing of the same name from 1888 (Antwerp, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 2742), which in turn is a free composition after a photograph (Ostend, Museum of Fine Arts).