Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise

James Ensor's 1887 treatment of Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise belongs to his early phase of biblical and allegorical subjects, painted before his mature Expressionist style fully emerged. Ensor was one of the most radical and original Belgian painters of the late nineteenth century, ultimately becoming a founding figure of Expressionism. His treatment of the Expulsion engages the psychological dimensions of shame and alienation that fascinated him throughout his career, and already shows his tendency toward emotional intensity and psychological penetration that would become fully explicit in his masked and skeletal compositions of the 1890s.

Ensor's treatment of the biblical subject shows his characteristic tendency toward emotional intensity. The figures carry the weight of shame and loss without academic pomposity, and his palette and handling show the tendency toward bold color and expressive distortion that would fully emerge in his later work. The handling is energetic and somewhat restless.