James Ensor: A Pioneer of Expressionism and SurrealismJames Sidney Edouard Ensor (Ostend, 13 April 1860-19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.Early Life and Artistic TrainingEnsor’s father, James Frederic Ensor, born in Brussels to English parents, was a cultivated man who studied engineering in England and Germany. Ensor’s mother, Maria Catharina Haegheman, was Belgian. Ensor himself lacked interest in academic study and lef…