Linda, resident:
One upside down, one with a pince-nez and a cigarette, one with a bare bottom... It couldn’t get crazy enough here in the waves of the North Sea. And between them floats another firm beer belly - it could even be a priest, judging by his haircut.
Ensor had great fun with The Baths, but this kind of humour got a lukewarm reception from his artistic friends in Brussels. The painting was rejected at an exhibition organised by La Libre Esthétique in 1895. The curator, Octave Maus, did have fairly modern tastes for his time, and he also admired Ensor’s impressionist work, but this kind of toilet humour? Non merci.
When King Leopold II attended the vernissage, Ensor dared complain to the king. The latter sent Maus to the storage room at once to bring the work upstairs. At which the monarch had a good chuckle. Quote: “Mr Ensor did not exaggerate, that is exactly how one bathes in Ostend. The sea and the baths sometimes have pleasant surprises in store.” Ensor achieved his goal and The Baths at Ostend was immediately given a place of honour. We don’t know if this is true since the story originates from Ensor himself. But well, if it isn’t, it is still a good tale to tell.