Masked Ball

Masterpieces of Provocative Art

Masked Ball

Masterpieces of Provocative Art

“Masked Ball”

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

Oscar Wilde, "The Critic as Artist" (1891)

WHEN REALISM WAS REBELLION

AI-colorized portrait of artist Charles Hermans standing in his studio, wearing a white smock and holding a wooden palette with bright paints and brushes.

Charles Hermans (1839-1924) was a Belgian artist known for his realistic depictions of society life.

When he began his career, realism was not yet a style in favour with the traditional art academies and salons: it was a modern, radical movement that depicted scenes from contemporary life, challenging the historical subject choices and idealised styles classically associated with fine art.

A SOCIAL POTPOURRI

In his Masked Ball (1880), Hermans depicts one of the most lavish pleasures of late 19th century society: the masked ball. Unlike conventional balls, anyone who could afford a ticket might partake in the pleasure. Costumes, if desired, blurred the social class of their wearers. Thus, courtesans might mingle with aristocrats, high-born ladies with nouveau riche artists, and unlikely acquaintances – often of a flirtatious kind – were made.

Cropped painting detail of a reveler in a white costume joyfully throwing his arm up in the air.

People are throwing their arms up in raucous pleasure, contrasting with the polite restraint they were normally expected to show in society.

Cropped painting detail showing masked attendees closely mingling and flirting at a crowded ball.

At the masked ball, people of various backgrounds could engage in flirtation – their identity and social rank concealed by masks, if desired.

Cropped painting detail showing partygoers dressed in the traditional pointy white hats of Commedia dell’Arte characters.

The masked ball allowed people to slip into playful roles, such as characters from the Commedia dell’Arte.

Cropped painting detail focusing on a mysterious figure shrouded in a black hooded domino cloak and mask.

The domino dressed in black is wearing a traditional Venetian Carnival garment that historically functioned as a social equalizer across rigid class divides.

People are throwing their arms up in raucous pleasure, contrasting with the polite restraint they were normally expected to show in society.

At the masked ball, people of various backgrounds could engage in flirtation – their identity and social rank concealed by masks, if desired.

The masked ball allowed people to slip into playful roles, such as characters from the Commedia dell’Arte.

The domino dressed in black is wearing a traditional Venetian Carnival garment that historically functioned as a social equalizer across rigid class divides.

FORBIDDEN FLIRTATION

An 1780 French engraving of a masquerade ball, featuring a masked woman in an elaborate dress dancing with a cloaked man.

Masquerades as a way to briefly escape societal conventions have a long tradition. Already during the 18th century, costumed banquets were held at which the seating was randomised: suddenly, the King might find himself next to a much lower-ranking lady, engaging in flirtation that was otherwise not encouraged. In the late Victorian era, the idea became highly popular once again, and entire books of costume ideas were published.

HIDDEN CRITICISM

Hermans’ realistic depictions of contemporary society were not devoid of social commentary. His most famous painting, At Dawn (1875), juxtaposes high society, returning from the ball at dawn in their expensive fineries, with impoverished workers who at this hour are on their way to the factories for a day of labour. Likewise, The Masked Ball (1880) calls out a society’s hunger for pleasure and freedom – which they only dare indulge in from behind the comfort of masks.

GIVE MAN A MASK AND HE WILL TELL YOU THE TRUTH

‘Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth’, wrote Oscar Wilde around the same time as Hermans painted The Masked Ball.

The sentiment is much the same. The masked balls of the late 19th century coincided with an era of extremely strict morality. To assume a new persona for the evening afforded a level of freedom even to those who, during daytime, adhered to stifling moral conventions.