Asger Jorn

Asger Jorn (born March 3, 1914, Jutland, Den.—died May 1/2, 1973, Århus) was a Danish painter whose style, influenced by the Expressionist painters James Ensor of Belgium and Paul Klee of Switzerland, creates an emotional impact through the use of strong colours and distorted forms.

In 1936 Jorn worked with the French painter Fernand Léger, and in 1937 with the Swiss architect Le Corbusier at the Paris International Exposition. Jorn was a member of the German Bauhaus school of Walter Gropius and the founder of the Cobra group (1948–51), whose members painted animals and insects in an abstract style in imitation of primitive art. In 1949 Jorn and the Cobra group were given an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. His “Letter to My Son” (1956–57) illustrates his heavily textured, childlike images.