A Comparative Study of African Mask's Visual Structure and the Masks in the Artworks of James Ensor

The aim of this paper is to reveal the similarities and differences in the visual structure of African ‘masks’ and those of the Belgian artist, James Ensor. Attempts have been made to, on the one hand, examine masks which have been used in different fields of art such as sculpture, reliefs, and African symbolic paintings and, on the other, those masks that have been employed in the artworks of James Ensor (like painting, gravure, and statuesque masks). Undoubtedly, despite having brief similarities, the origins of these masks are quite different due to temporal, spatial, ethnic, cultural differences and social perspectives as well as doctrinal, ritual and religious approaches. Therefore, to discern the meaning of these works, we shall first provide an answer for the main question of this research: Does Ensor’s application of masks in his works stem from the very attitude that is present in the African masks or does it originate from cultural background, ideological, religious and social inclinations with an eye on the ancient myths, grotesque, maskaron, masquerade, carnival etc? The findings of the research show that although African masks date back to the early stages of human civilization and are influenced by the culture, race, and tribal beliefs, James Ensor’s works belong to the western and European background; Belgium of the late 19th and early 20th century. This paper is a library research and, employing a descriptive-analytical and comparative method, will disclose the sharp and inevitable differences between these two sets of masks.