Anthony, resident:
The figure bending over in the distance is so small. What is he doing? Is he looking for shells in the sand? He could be. But all is revealed in Ensor’s ink drawing of The Baths at Ostend.
The poor man is actually vomiting into the surf. Maybe he ate a bad oyster at the Kursaal last night. Or he read a manual on the beneficial effects of seawater. Because bath cures were based on a serious amount of science. At the Deuxième Congrès International de Thalassothérapie in 1895, doctors discussed the various techniques of cures in Ostend.
Light, air, sea and sand cures, hot and cold baths, immersion, showers, the rhythmic effect of the waves against the lower back: everyone agreed. It could only benefit your health. But at the congress they also talked about drinking seawater, seawater as an enema and seawater as a vaginal injection. Mmm, yes, things were a bit different at the seaside. So it could well be that this man had simply drunk a toast to his health on the doctor’s advice.