Niels, resident:
The period around 1890 was the most rebellious time of Ensor’s life. Everyone was on the receiving end. He mocked the church, the courts, the king, and also the army. The Baths at Ostend includes a military man in full dress uniform, standing on the left. He joins the other voyeurs in their ogling.
The man with the mighty moustache is not just anyone. It is a portrait of Gérard Leman, a professional soldier who was later promoted to general. Ensor knew him from the busy Brussels soirées organised by the Rousseau-Hannon family. On one of these occasions, the artist and the soldier got into a serious argument, talking about art.
It must have been a memorable discussion, because Ensor made a drawing and painting of it. Leman is on the left holding a toy cannon, Ensor stands on the right holding something resembling a cross between a paintbrush and a toilet brush. And in the background is the gracious hostess, Mariette Hannon. No one knows the details of the conversation, but there has been much speculation about it. Was it only about art? Or perhaps it was also a simmering battle for la belle dame’s attention? Ensor definitely had a soft spot for her, and the paint on his palette looks like a heart. The names are next to it. Mariette-heart-Ensor? Or Mariette heart-Leman?