Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, (formerly Silkeborg Kunstmuseum) is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

located by Gudenåen in

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The museum holds the collections that were developed by

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. The largest collection of Jorn's works� ...

(1914–1973) from the early 1950s until his death in 1973, since when they have doubled in extent. In consequence, the museum is not only home to the most comprehensive collection of Jorn’s own works but also holds thousands of paintings, sculptures and works on paper by other artists – members of the

CoBrA COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

avant-garde art movement and older international artists who inspired Jorn or were kindred artistic spirits including, among others,

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typography, typographist closely associated with Dada. When consid ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

and

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

History and architecture

Museum Jorn's history dates back to 1940 when the Silkeborg and Omegn Museum Association made its first acquisitions of art. In 1951, a single room in the local history museum in Silkeborg (

Silkeborg Museum Silkeborg Museum is a museum of Danish cultural history with official state recognition based in Silkeborg Municipality, Denmark. Museum Silkeborg is located at three different sites: Manor House (''Hovedgården'') and the Paper Mill Museum ('' ...

) was converted to hold modern art. In 1961 the museum opened an exhibition at the premises of a school building in Silkeborg, and in 1965 the independent institution Silkeborg Museum of Art was founded. In 1973 the museum took over the whole school building, where the museum was housed until 1982. At the anniversary of Asger Jorn's birthday, on March 3, 1982, Silkeborg Museum of Art moved to a newly built complex of buildings on an 8,000 m² site near the river Gudenåen. The building was designed by the architect Niels Frithiof Truelsen and was inspired by the studio

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...

in front of

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in Paris. Because of the museum's large international collection, own acquisitions, and artists’ and collectors' donations the premises were inadequate. This resulted in an extension that was inaugurated in 1998. The extension was also designed by Niels Frithiof Truelsen. Thereby, the exhibition area was increased to 3,200 m² along with a daylight free gallery in the basement for exhibition of works on paper. In 2010 the museum underwent a major renovation and changed its name to ''Museum Jorn, Silkeborg''. A modern

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

Forum was designed so that visitors now can immerse themselves in the museum's extensive research material on and by Asger Jorn in electronic media and in books. With the reopening and change of name it is highlighted that the museum will continue to challenge its current role. The many new initiatives are part of the strategy to respond to Jorn's vision for the museum and to promote the artist who is considered to be Denmark's most significant in the 20th century.

Collections

Museum Jorn houses over 30,000 works by more than 600 different artists from around the world including some 100 paintings, and as many ceramic works, graphics and drawings. Two large ceramic walls donated by

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (; 31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor of the School of Paris, École de Paris (School of Paris). His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" a ...

and

Pierre Alechinsky Pierre Alechinsky (; born 19 October 1927) is a Belgian artist. He has lived and worked in France since 1951. His work is related to tachisme, abstract expressionism, and lyrical abstraction. Life Alechinsky was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium, to ...

meet the visitors in the museum's courtyard, which also features ceramic blue stones designed by Erik Nyholm. The museum's own collection comprises works that reach back to around 1900 with work groups of Johannes Holbek, Julius Paulsen, Albert Gottschalk and from the following decades Jens Adolf Jerichau and Aksel Jørgensen. From the second half of the 20th century works of

Sonja Ferlov Mancoba Sonja Ferlov Mancoba (1 November 1911 – 17 December 1984) was a Danish avant-garde sculptor. Biography She attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was affiliated with the CoBrA group, along with her husband, South African artist Ernest ...

Erik Ortvad Erik Ortvad (18 June 1917 in Copenhagen – 29 February 2008 in Kvänjarp) was a painter and a creator of many drawings. He debuted as a painter in 1935. He is mostly known for colorful surrealistic paintings He also created several hundred sa ...

, Frank Rubin, Paul Gernes,

Per Kirkeby Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish Painting, painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. His works have been exhibited worldwide and are represented in many important public collections, including the Tate, Metropolitan Museum ...

and Richard Winther are shown. The collection also contains works by artists from Eastern Europe. The museum's collection comprises also contemporary works by Georg Baselitz, Andreas Slominski, Poul Gernes and Per Kirkeby. Inside are works by some of the artists who inspired Jorn:

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

. The Danish art is represented by Ejler Bille, Bjerke Petersen,

Carl-Henning Pedersen Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a key member of the COBRA movement. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20 ...

, Egill Jacobsen, Henry Heerup and Wilhelm Freddie. From

group the following can be mentioned (besides

Karel Appel Christiaan Karel Appel (; 25 April 1921 – 3 May 2006) was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-gard ...

, Constant Nieuwenhuis, Reinhoud d'Haese, Theo Wolvecamp. And from the 1950s:

Enrico Baj Enrico Baj (31 October 1924 – 16 June 2003) was an Italian artist and writer on art. Many of his works show an obsession with nuclear war. He created prints, and sculptures but especially collage. He was close to the surrealist and dada mo ...

Pinot Gallizio Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio (1902–1964) was an Italian painter, the formulator of industrial painting, and a founding member of the Situationist International. He was also a scholar of popular culture, archaeology, nomadism, and botany. Mirella Ba ...

Wifredo Lam Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla (; December 8, 1902 – September 11, 1982), better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban spirit and culture. Inspired by ...

, Matta,

Henri Michaux Henri Michaux (; 24 May 1899 – 19 October 1984) was a Belgian-born French poet, writer and painter. Michaux is renowned for his strange, highly original poetry and prose, and also for his art: the Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenhei ...

, Walasse Ting, Pierre Wemaëre and Group SPUR, among others.

References

Other sources

* Andersen, Troels (2001) ''Asger Jorn. Eine Biographie'' (Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König)

External links

* {{authority control Museum Jorn, Silkeborg Art museums and galleries established in 1965 Art museums and galleries in Denmark Museum Jorn, Silkeborg Museums in the Central Denmark Region Silkeborg Museums devoted to one artist

History and architecture

Collections

See also

References

Other sources

External links