Published in conjunction with the exhibition Masquerade, Make-up & Ensor at MoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp, this book celebrates the craftsmanship and creativity of make-up and hair artists: the painters of fashion.

Belgian artist James Ensor's ideas about masquerade, vanity, seduction, deception and the transient are explored from a contemporary perspective. Throughout history, make-up has been viewed with suspicion and compared to the wearing of a mask: a mask to hide one's true face. Ensor’s work prompts a number of universal questions:

• Why do we wear masks?
• Why do we fear visible ageing?
• How do we navigate ever-changing beauty ideals?

This book investigates the profound connections between make-up and the many facets of our humanity.