Asger Jorn
Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest corner of Jutland, Denmark.
By the age of 16 he was influenced by N. F. S. Grundtvig, and although he had already started to paint, Asger enrolled in the Vinthers Seminarium, a teacher-training college in Silkeborg where he paid particular attention to a course in 19th century Scandinavian thought.
In 1936 he traveled to Paris to become a student of Kandinsky. However, when he discovered that Kandinsky was having economic difficulties, barely able to sell his own paintings, Jorn decided to join Fernand Léger’s Académie Contemporaine; it was during this period that he turned away from figurative painting and to abstract art. In 1937 he joined Le Corbusier in working on the Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux at the 1937 Paris Exhibition.
The occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany was a time of deep crisis for Jorn, who had been deeply inculcated with pacifism. During the war he co-founded with the architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen the underground art group, Helhesten or “hell-horse,” and was a contributor to its journal. In 1939, he wrote the key theoretical essay, “Intimate Banalities,” published in Helhesten, which claimed that the future of art was kitsch and praised amateur landscape paintings as “the best art today.”
In 1954 he met Guy Debord, who was to become a close friend. The two men collaborated on two artist’s books, Fin de Copenhague (1957) and Mémoires (1959), along with prints, and forewords to each other’s work.
He went on to found the Scandinavian Institute of Comparative Vandalism in Silkeborg and contributed material to the Situationist Times.
After 1966, Jorn continued to produce oil paintings while traveling throughout Europe collecting images with photographer Gerard Franceschi for his vast archive of “10,000 Years of Nordic Folk Art”.
During the course of his artistic career he produced over 2,500 paintings, prints, drawings, ceramics, sculptures, artist’s books, collages, décollages, and collaborative tapestries.
He died in Aarhus, Denmark on 1 May 1973. He is buried in the cemetery at Grötlingbo Church, on the island of Gotland in Sweden.
-Wikipedia, “Asger Jorn”
Articles featuring Asger Jorn:
Asger Jorn à Silkeborg
Asger Jorn à Silkeborg Le musée d'un peintre (Asger Jorn in Silkeborg, a painter's museum) is a partial catalogue of works held by the Silkeborg Museum of Art with a focus on the art of Danish painter Asger Jorn and the relationship that the museum's other works have with Jorn's art.
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 1)
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 1) is the first issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 2)
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 2) is the second issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 3)
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 3) is the third issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 4)
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklet 4) is the fourth issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklets 5 & 6)
Helhesten (Year 1, Booklets 5 & 6) is the fifth issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklet 1)
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklet 1) is the sixth issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklets 2 & 3)
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklets 2 & 3) is the seventh issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklet 4)
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklet 4) is the penultimate issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklets 5 & 6)
Helhesten (Year 2, Booklets 5 & 6) is the final issue of the Danish art journal Helhesten, edited by Danish architect Robert Dahlmann Olsen.
La langue verte et la cuite
La langue verte et la cuite (Slang and Drunkenness) is a book written in French by Asger Jorn and Noël Arnaud, and edited and published by Jean Jacques Pauvert in 1968.
Signes gravés sur les églises de l'Eure et du Calvados
Signes gravés sur les églises de l'Eure et du Calvados (Signs Engraved on the Churches of Eure and Calvados) is a book written in French and directed by Asger Jorn, with essay contributions from various antiquities experts and photography by Gérard Franceschi.
Skånes stenskulptur under 1100-talet
Skånes stenskulptur under 1100-talet (Skåne's Stone Sculpture during the 12th Century) is a book on 12th century stone sculpture from the Scania region of southern Sweden by Erik Cinthio, with an introduction by P. V. Glob and notes by Asger Jorn.
21 Lystegninger
21 Lystegninger (21 Light Drawings) is the title of an exhibition catalogue released by the Aarhus Art Association of 1847 in conjunction with an exhibition of Asger Jorn's light drawings at the Aarhus Festuge 1971.
Asger Jorn - The Crucial Years 1954-1964
Asger Jorn - The Crucial Years 1954-1964 is the second book in a five-volume catalogue raisonné series on the Danish painter Asger Jorn by Guy Atkins and Troels Andersen.
Asger Jorn - The Final Years 1965-1973
Asger Jorn - The Final Years 1965-1973 is the third book in a five-volume catalogue raisonné series on the Danish painter Asger Jorn by Guy Atkins and Troels Andersen.
Asger Jorn - Revised Supplement
Asger Jorn - Revised Supplement is the final book in a five-volume catalogue raisonné series on the Danish painter Asger Jorn by Guy Atkins and Troels Andersen.
Jorn in Scandinavia 1930-1953
Jorn in Scandinavia 1930-1953 is the first book in a five-volume catalogue raisonné series on the Danish painter Asger Jorn by Guy Atkins and Troels Andersen.
Asger Jorn - Supplement - Paintings 1930-1973
Asger Jorn - Supplement - Paintings 1930-1973 is the penultimate book in a five-volume catalogue raisonné series on the Danish painter Asger Jorn by Guy Atkins and Troels Andersen.
Mémoires
Mémoires is an artist's book made by the Danish artist Asger Jorn in collaboration with the French artist and theorist Guy Debord.
La chevelure des choses
La chevelure des choses (The hair of things) is an exhibition catalogue by Belgian poet Christian Dotremont and Asger Jorn.