Asger Jorn's paintings form a focal point in Louisiana's collection. A great selection can currently be seen in the last, high-ceilinged room of the North Wing.
Asger Jorn was a giant in both Danish and European post-war art. His production was wide-ranging, but in a Louisiana context it is primarily Jorn the painter who is in focus. The museum’s founder, Knud W. Jensen, showed an early interest in Jorn and acquired a number of key works himself.
However, it was not until Jytte and Dennis Dresing's donation from The Merla Art Foundation - which was given in three installments in the years 1999-2014 - that the collection gained a weight in line with other 20th century classics at Louisiana.
This called for a more permanent frame to house it, which (with a few exceptions) has been precisely here in the bright, high-ceilinged room that marks the ending of the North Wing.
KNEW NO BOUNDARIES
Asger Jorn (1914-1973) was one of the central figures in Danish 20th-century art. He was also a boundary-transcending artist, both in terms of his involvement with the international art world through the Cobra movement and through his questioning of the position of the artist in society.
His experimentation with the ‘stuff of art’ – the raw materials of the artwork – was legendary and lifelong. He worked in and with virtually every category of visual art, and had a keen sense of when to break down those categories.
Freedom, not least artistic freedom, was a central theme for Jorn. “Die Gedanken sind Frei” – Thoughts are free – is the title of one of his paintings from 1970-1971, which can be seen in and has given its name to this hanging.
