Jorn Gallery

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.

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.

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.