Introduction

IIn early September 2025, Rubey received an invitation from the National Museum in Warsaw to attend the festive opening of Black Carnival on October 2. Six months earlier, the museum had approached Rubey with the request to include Ensor’s masterpiece Carnaval de Binche. With great pride and anticipation, Rubey set off for Poland.

When I entered the exhibition halls, I sensed immediately this would be no ordinary show. The title promised theatre, masks, darkness, and Black Carnival delivered on every count. It stages a dialogue between two visionary artists who never met but explored parallel realms of imagination: James Ensor (1860–1949) of Belgium and Witold Wojtkiewicz (1879–1909) of Poland.

The collaboration between Warsaw’s museum and Belgian partners underscores how deeply art transcends borders. Across five thematic chapters (Bohemian circles, Masquerade, Fantasy, Death, and Theatre) the curators invite us to see how both artists used performance, imagination, and symbolism to question reality.

A Theatre of Masks and the Central Role of Carnaval de Binche

At the heart of the show hangs Ensor’s Carnaval de Binche (1892), a gem from Rubey’s collection. It occupies a pivotal spot between the galleries devoted to masquerade and theatre. Lit dramatically against a deep wall, it becomes the narrative anchor.

The painting captures the Belgian carnival in full paradox: joy and unease in tension. Seeing it far from home reinforced how universal that tension is: the boundary between play and seriousness, mask and identity. It felt like a proud moment for Rubey to see this vision realized on such a stage.

Surrounding it are Ballerinas, Theatre of Masks, and Dance in the Clearing. Companion works that expand on Ensor’s theatrical universe.

Nearby, a Gille costume from Binche (BE) and a papier-mâché “old man” mask tie the artistic vision back to living carnival tradition, bridging ritual and representation.

Echoes of fantasy, Silence, and Introspection

The dialogue with Wojtkiewicz is built through contrast: where Ensor’s works explode with colour and movement, Wojtkiewicz’s are subtle, dreamlike, fragile. In Circus (In Front of the Theatre), he paints the mind’s theater: playful, unstable, haunted.

Garden Party offers a quieter reflection: pale figures, suspended time, a hush after performance.

Between their worlds lies a standout piece: Walenty Malik’s Kraków Nativity Crib, a handcrafted miniature stage blending folk and religious motifs. Its stage-like structure mirrors Ensor’s carnival scenes and Wojtkiewicz’s puppet-like figures. A curatorial gesture that unites their visions.

Children, Dreams, and Thanatos

In the “children and dreams” section, Wojtkiewicz’s Abduction of a Princess (Flight) and Procession draw us into the tension between innocence and anxiety.

Nearby, Jacek Malczewski’s Thanatos II grounds the fantasy in mortality. A reminder that behind every spectacle lingers the shadow of death.

Personal Reflection

Standing before Carnaval de Binche, I couldn’t help thinking of how contemporary Ensor’s vision feels. His masked crowd could easily be a modern social gathering: cheerful, self-conscious, and even a little haunted.

Wojtkiewicz, meanwhile, paints what comes after the party: the silence, the fragility, the fading of illusion. Together they form a psychological pair, two visions of the same question: performance and identity, what we show and what we hide.

Conclusion

To me, Black Carnival. Ensor / Wojtkiewicz was nothing short of spectacular. Elegantly curated, emotionally resonant, and intellectually bold. It brings together two distinct voices that, in their interplay, magnify each other’s power. I fully recommend it to anyone fascinated by how masks, theatre, and fantasy reflect the human condition.

For Rubey, this exhibition represents a landmark moment: Ensor’s Carnaval de Binche became the first tokenized artwork ever to travel abroad for display. This is more than a milestone, it’s living proof of Rubey’s mission to make museum-quality art accessible and alive across borders. Black Carnival is not just a celebration of Ensor and Wojtkiewicz. It’s a celebration of what Rubey stands for.

Black Carnival. Ensor / Wojtkiewicz runs at the National Museum in Warsaw from 3 October 2025 to 11 January 2026.

Maarten Van Doorslaer
8 October 2025