The Timid Proud One 1957

Asger Jorn made this strange painting using thick brushstrokes, mostly greens and blues, with some whites and yellows peeking through. It looks like the painting came into being through struggle, with Jorn adding and subtracting, maybe wiping away, maybe changing his mind? I imagine him circling the canvas, feeling out the forms. There’s a kind of hesitancy to the image, but also a boldness in the application of paint. I bet he made it in one go! The paint is really built up, especially around the figure in the center—a timid but proud one, apparently! Look at the texture, it looks like a mask. It reminds me of other painters who embrace the raw materiality of paint, like Guston or Auerbach, where the image feels like it's emerging from the muck. Ultimately, painting is an embodied exchange, a conversation across time and space. Artists look at each other, challenge each other, and inspire each other to see the world anew.