Asger Jorn (born Asger Oluf Jørgensen) is one of Denmark’s most prominent painters of the 20th century. He was a founding member of the COBRA movement in Europe. In 2011, Aros Museum in Aarhus, Denmark displayed his most famous paintings between January 22nd and May 22nd. For the first time his 7 masterpieces were displayed together.
For more of his life and work, visit Asger Jorn Wikipedia page.
The following are some of Jorn’s paintings in the exhibition. Name of the paintings will be in English and Danish (in parenthesis). Click any image for full view.
Midsummer Night II
(Sankthans II)
Oil on Mansonite, 1952
Letter to my son
(Brev til min søn)
Oil on canvas, 1956-57
Study no. 4 of Opus 2 of The Silent Myth
(Den Stumme Myte)
Oil on canvas, 1952
The Yellow Sky
(Den gule himmel)
Oil on Canvas, 1961
Something stays behind
(Noget bliver tilbage)
Oil on canvas, 1963
A Soul for Sale
(En sjæl på udsalg)
Oil on Canvas, 1958-59
[Guggenheium Museum, NYC]
The Situation of a Central Figure
(Situationen omkring en central figure)
Oil on Canvas, 1966-68
In the Wingbeat of the Swans
(I Svanernes vingeslag)
Acrylic on Canvas, 1963
By the Unknown Shore
(Ved den ukendte bred)
Oil on Canvas, 1963
And then?
(Og så?)
Oil on canvas, 1963-65
Here we interrupt the paintings briefly to introduce two of Jorn’s décollages. Jorn would tear strips of street posters and combine them to create interesting compositions that resemble his painitngs.
Décollage, 1963
See it all with Closed Eyes, 1964
(Se alt med lukkede øjne)
Now, we have a few examples of Asger Jorn’s modifications or disfigurations. He would purchase old paintings at flea markets and add elements of his own style, rendering them “modern”.
In one of the few statements he did on art, he expressed poetically this technique:
Be modern
collectors and museums!
Got old paintings?
Do not despair.
Preserve your memories,
but twist them
to correspond to the times.
Why renounce the old
if it can be modernised
with a few strokes of a brush?
It brings new currency
to your ancient culture.
Be fashionable,
and elegant
at the same time.
Painting is finished.
Might as well give it the killing blow.
Twist it.
Long live painting.
Hold on to the fortune of happiness
(Man må fastholde lykkens guginde)
Oil on canvas, disfiguration, 1962
Top of the World – or Gay Day
(I den syvende himmel – eller glædesdag)
Oil on Canvas, 1960
The Avantgarde never surrenders
(Avantgarden overgiver sig ikke)
Oil on canvas, disfiguration 1962
Dear Rut in Wilden Kaiser
(Hjortebrunst I Wilden Kaiser)
Oil on canvas, 1960
[Berlin, Nationalgalerie]
We return now to more of Jorn’s abstract expressionist paintings. Click on any image to enlarge.
Attention Danger
(Forsigtig Fare)
Oil on Canvas, 1957
Interplanetary female
(Kvinde fra verdensrummet)
Oil on canvas, 1953
An Outsider
(En udenforstående)
Oil on canvas, 1964
Happy Wrath
(Lykkelig vrede)
Oil on canvas, 1972
Everyone
(Alle og enhver)
Oil on canvas, 1972
The Figure Sculpture or Scultura figurata
(Figurskulpturen)
Oil on canvas, 1972
Bitter seriousness
(bitter alvor)
Oil on canvas, 1971
In the Beginning was the Image
(I begyndelsen var billedet)
Oil on canvas, 1965
Here we have a couple of examples of Jorn’s ‘luxury paintings’, an imitating and re-thinking of drip paint technique, developed by Jackson Pollock.
Detail of: Untitled (Luxury Painting)
(uden titel – luksusbillede)
Oil and gouache on paper, 1960-62
Detail of: Whispering
(Hvisken)
Gouache, acrylic on paper, 1961
Turning now to Jorn’s smaller-sized paintings:
Beloved animals in the night
(Elskede dyr in the night)
Oil on canvas, 1967-68
A Real Fogey
(en ægte nisse)
Oil on canvas, 1958-59
The Wanderer II
(Vandrigsmanden II)
Oil on canvas, 1955
My Poor Sweetheart
(min stakkels skat)
Oil on canvas, 1969
Pathological Scene
(Patologisk scene)
Oil on canvas, 1967-68
Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of Asger Jorn’s modern art paintings.
