A look into the past

'Why this almost sad tone in the painting? Something at once drily and freshly present? Asger Jorn gives the explanation in the title: A Look into the Past. This is not just a memory, but a glance back - and yet seen in the somewhat sad glow of happiness that a distance in time gives. The forms are wellknown: Birds' faces, small unidentifiable creatures. But the sadness is mostly in the colours. The green head in the right corner, the orange head in the upper left corner, the blue bird in the centre, and the white "Aganaks" at the bottom to the left do not differ from the whole, but merge into it. These figures are so mild that they move the viewer's heart. It is particularly touching to look into a world that an artist has experienced - it has become part of himself' (Asger Jorn quoted in: V. Schade, Asger Jorn, Copenhagen 1965, p. 96).