The initiator of COBRA was the Dane Asger Jorn. Together with 5 other artists, Appel, Constant, Corneille, Noiret and Dotremont, Jorn founded the movement out of a desire to create a post-war movement on an equal footing with the philosophical currents represented by Sartre and Camus. COBRA was the first international group of artists and eventually numbered artists from Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Britain.The idiom of the movement was characterised by spontaneity and stream of consciousness, and in Denmark the works of this group stand out as the classic examples of 20th century abstract art.

Besides Jorn, Danish members of the movement were Ejler Bille, Henry Heerup, Carl-Henning Pedersen, Mogens Balle and Else Alfelt. The Danish contribution to COBRA was all-important. The Danish contingent was inspired by the modern art that had existed in Europe up until the Second World War and by Danish prehistoric, Viking Age and medieval art. The decorative, intertwined ornamentation, the Romanesque stone carvings and Romanesque and Gothic murals of the churches were part of the Danish heritage that inspired their works.

Relevant Danish Museums:

Carl-Henning Pedersen og Else Alfelts Museum
Herning Museum of Art
Silkeborg Museum of Art

Silkeborg Museum of Art showcases the leading figure of the movement, Asger Jorn, who also built up a large personal collection of 5000 works to represent the art of his time. The great painting “Stalingrad” is one of the main pieces at the museum, which besides 200 other works by Jorn, displays works from the European COBRA period by artists such as Appel and Alechinsky.Works by the COBRA group are on show at museums of art throughout Denmark.

Author: Vibe Nørgaard

The National Database on Art in Danish Museums
Danish Museums Online
List of Danish contemporary artists