The Timid Proud One 1957

Asger Jorn made this painting, with the very suggestive title, "The Timid Proud One," out of oil paint, and with a great deal of impasto. The colors in the painting have a kind of earthy, almost sickly quality that pulls you in and then pushes you away. He loads the paint on, but not in a way that feels luxurious, more like he's trying to bury something, or maybe unearth it. Take for example, the little figure in the bottom right corner, it’s both comic and tragic at the same time. This is Jorn at his best, I think. You can see the hand of the artist in every stroke, like a conversation that's being had with the paint itself, where each mark builds on the last. It makes me think a little of Dubuffet, or maybe even some of Guston's later, more cartoony works. There’s a sense that art isn't about answers, but about keeping the questions alive.