The Sleeper
Artist / maker
James Ensor (etchers)Date
1887Period
19th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
The figure depicted in the etching "The Sleeper" is Ensor's aunt Mimi Haegheman, sister of the artist's mother. She was unmarried and often spent the winters with the Ensor family. In the summer she stayed in Blankenberge, where, like her sister, she ran a souvenir shop. The print is reminiscent of the chalk drawing "Sister and Aunt of the Artist…
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The figure depicted in the etching "The Sleeper" is Ensor's aunt Mimi Haegheman, sister of the artist's mother. She was unmarried and often spent the winters with the Ensor family. In the summer she stayed in Blankenberge, where, like her sister, she ran a souvenir shop. The print is reminiscent of the chalk drawing "Sister and Aunt of the Artist in Profile", created between 1880 and 1885 (private collection), in which Ensor depicted his aunt in an identical pose.
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