Jardin des êtres 1957

Asger Jorn made this painting, "Jardin des êtres," with oil on canvas, but when, exactly? It's like he's not giving us an easy date, playing with time like he plays with form. Look at how Jorn builds these figures with thick, loaded brushstrokes – whites, blues, reds slapped on this murky green. You can sense him, the energy of his hand, scraping and layering. It’s like he’s letting the process itself become part of the image. There’s this patch of bright yellow near the bottom—a kind of highlight that also feels totally arbitrary. It doesn't follow the logic of form, but maybe it's not supposed to. It's like a little sun, fighting against the darkness. Jorn reminds me a little of Picabia – in his restless experimentation, his refusal to settle on a single style. You can feel the push and pull, this dialogue, throughout art history.