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Newly-discovered works from world-famous Danish avant-garde artist go on display
Stephen Gadd
April 25th, 2018
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It sounds like something out of a mystery novel: an old suitcase is discovered when a house is being cleared containing hitherto unknown treasure
Some of the newly-discovered works show Jorn’s family – as well as more abstract figures (images: Museum Jorn)
When the family of Vagn Ove Jorn were clearing his house after his death they found a suitcase containing a cache of 52 lino plates cut by his brother, the internationally-famous Danish artist Asger Jorn.
It seems the suitcase was given to Vagn sometime in the 1940s with instructions to look after it carefully. The precious plates remained forgotten until 2012 and the famous artist died in 1973.
A artist on the make
The plates have now been carefully mounted and printed and the results are on show at a special exhibition at the Museum Jorn until August 15.
READ ALSO: Artist whose radicalism too often concealed his talent
Asger Jorn created the lino cuts some time between 1934 and 1939, most of them before he went to Paris in 1936. The majority of them have not previously been printed.
Jorn’s art was in a period of transition and the motifs found in the prints comprise illustrations, family portraits, political satire and abstract compositions.
“The 52 prints add a new dimension to our understanding of Asger Jorn’s work. The pictures show in a quite extraordinary way the young artist’s involvment in his family, his art and the society he was a part of,” said Jacob Thage, head of Museum Jorn in Silkeborg.
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