This publication provides a survey of the life and work of James Ensor. Herwig Todts describes Ensor's evolution from his realistic paintings to his later grotesque works, of which the paintings of masks are the best-known. New research on Ensor's relation with the Netherlands enables the reader to go into the subject in more depth. Saskia de Bodt writes on the mutual influence of artists belonging to Les XX in Brussels and publishes new information on the drawings that Ensor made during his travels through the Netherlands, while Doede Hardeman writes on the artist's reception there. These three essays offer an exciting survey of the life and work of Ensor and present new research findings on the relation between Ensor and the Netherlands.