Archives: Tentoonstellingen

Exhibition
Je est un autre
Ernest Mancoba and Sonja Ferlov

This exhibition brings over 60 of works together in an intimate overview. It showcases the works of South African-born sculptor and painter Ernest Mancoba (1904-2002) and Danish-born sculptor Sonja Ferlov (1911-1984). Both were involved at the founding of the Cobra movement in Denmark, albeit from the sidelines. In 2019, Centre Pompidou in Paris presented two retrospectives of their oeuvre and in the same year the Statens Museum of Art in Copenhagen showed an overview of Sonja Ferlov.

Recluses
The life stories of Ferlov and Mancoba are compelling and had a profound impact on their art. Their interracial relationship was unique at the time and they experienced backlash and racism. They were to spend much of their lives together, almost as recluses from society, drawing social and artistic companionship from each other. Because of this close relationship, their artistic works influenced the other’s whilst remaining undeniably individual. They also shared an interest in other cultures. The exhibition Je est un autre addresses how these different aspects affected their work and informed their belief that the purpose of art was to help humanity find common ground.

Je est un autre
Their relative isolation that started in the latter years in Kattinge continued through the rest of their lives in France, exacerbated by their very humble circumstances. It did not mean they grew indifferent to society, indeed their concerns about societal discord seemed to motivate their art, as can be seen in their later works, such as Ferlov’s “Mask and Figure” (1977-84) and Mancoba’s kota-esque paintings.

Mancoba and Ferlov quoted the nineteenth-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud “Je est un autre“, which Mancoba translated as “I is somebody else”. Rimbaud’s grammatical error of using est (is) instead of suis (am) is poetic intent. Mancoba and Ferlov may have interpreted it as a symbol that it is impossible to actually be the other, but that one should try. It is the message they wanted to convey to the world: we have suffered, but we hold out hope that humanity can find a way to minimise suffering.

Paris
Ernest Mancoba came to Paris from South Africa to study in 1938. He had been taught woodcarving at a missionary school, where his talent had been noticed. But he also understood that in his colonised homeland his opportunities as a black African would be limited. Sonja Ferlov grew up in a well-to-do family in Denmark and attended several arts and crafts schools, where she was friends with artists such as Richard Mortensen and Ejler Bille. She was also part of the surrealist Danish artists’ society Linien (1934-39) and contributed to the magazine of the same name. In 1936, she moved to Paris, where she was befriended artists such as Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró and Max Ernst.

Mancoba and Ferlov met in Paris shortly before the outbreak of World War II. They were part of the same circle of friends and soon became lovers. The War brought them both trauma and unexpected happiness. Mancoba was interned in a POW camp, and at the Drancy transport camp, he encountered shocking levels of violence, including prisoners turning violent against each other. But they were also allowed to marry at the St Denis camp, where a German soldier secretly photographed them on their wedding day and gifted them the prints.

The War profoundly affected Ferlov’s work. The spontaneous and rapid making of her earlier surrealist works gave way to sculpting as long ruminations – or as she describes it, a way to make order out of chaos. “Skulptur” (1940-46), which is included in the exhibition, was the only major work Ferlov made during the length of the war and beyond. It is a work of great tension, the sculpture’s enveloping skin barely able to contain the mass; it creates an aura that is simultaneously “silent” and yet speaks volumes.

Kattinge
In 1947, Ferlov and Mancoba, along with their one-year-old son, left war-torn Paris and settled in Kattinge, Denmark. They would remain there for five years. Although of relatively short duration, the time had a huge impact on their art and lives. It was a time of inventiveness that influenced their later work, with Ferlov exploring both the artistic directions that would come to tear apart the Danish avant-garde community and Mancoba discovering the frescoes of Danish medieval churches, among other Scandinavian influences.

The frescoes may have inspired Mancoba to take up painting. In this exhibition we bring together some of his paintings and drawings of this time, some of which have never been exhibited or not for decades. For instance, “Untitled” (1950/51), in a private collection, has not been exhibited since the 1970s.

In 1948, Ferlov and Mancoba were invited to participate in the annual exhibition of the Danish art association Høst. There, they met and be-friended the Danish avant-garde and the artists who would become associated with Cobra (1948-1951) including Karel Appel, Constant and Corneille. They became members of the association in 1949 but that year saw Høst effectively disband in acrimony, with the avant-garde unable to reconcile their differences over the direction of art. Mancoba and Ferlov became estranged from the group. They were invited to be guests of other associations but never to be members. Since the associations were the main platform for exhibition and sales in Denmark, it affected the family’s livelihood as artists. Their artistic isolation, intolerance of Mancoba’s ethnicity and concerns about their son Wonga’s education eventually motivated the family to return to France.

Richly illustrated catalogue
The exhibition Je est un autre. Ernest Mancoba and Sonja Ferlov is part of the anniversary year Cobra 75 and, together with the exhibitions We Kiss the Earth. Danish Modern Art 1934-1948 and Becoming Ovartaci forms a triptych on Danish modern art. The three exhibitions are accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue compiled by the guest curators and published bilingually (Dutch and English) by Waanders Uitgevers. The book We Kiss the Earth is available at the Cobra Museum shop, among others.

Guest-curator Winnie Sze
Winnie Sze is based in Cape Town as an independent curator. During her fellowship at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), she researched Ernest Mancoba’s relationship with the Cobra artists. Sze has a deep interest in a broader approach to visual art and focuses on socially-oriented, creative collaborations in South Africa. Sze studied fine art at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) and previously ran a contemporary art project venue in London.

Celebrating Cobra 75
2023 marks 75 years since the revolutionary Cobra movement was founded in Paris. The Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen is celebrating this anniversary year with a major exhibition programme. Cobra (1948-1951) was an international movement of young, progressive artists creating colourful, expressive-spontaneous art. In the years after World War II, they caused a revolution: a breakthrough in modern art that continues to this day in artistic conceptions and artistic expressions. The name Cobra is a composite of: Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. The capitals where the founders of this artist group originated. These include Jorn from Denmark, Dotremont and Noiret from Belgium, Appel, Corneille and Constant from the Netherlands. Besides these big names, the Cobra Museum makes a strong case for an inclusive approach to the Cobra movement and regularly adds to the traditional Cobra canon. In 2019, for example, there was a major exhibition “New Nuances” specially dedicated to women artists in and around Cobra.

With thanks to
The anniversary programme Cobra 75 has been made possible by our partners and generous supporters. We especially thank the municipality of Amstelveen, VriendenLoterij, Trebbe, BPD, Rabobank Amstel & Vecht, Hizkia, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, New Carlsberg Foundation, Embassy of Denmark, KEIM and the Cobra Business Club.

Exhibition
We Kiss the Earth
Danish modern art 1934-1948

The exhibition gives an overview of the most important developments in Danish art in the years before, during and immediately after World War II, up to the founding of Cobra. Almost all of the 100 artworks in the exhibition are from Danish museums, who are lending masterpieces from their collections to the Cobra Museum.

In the first part of the exhibition We Kiss the Earth, visitors are taken through the origins of Danish abstract-surrealist art in the 1930s. Here, the artists’ collective Linien (“the line”) founded in 1934 and the magazine of the same name played a leading role.

The second part of the exhibition focuses on one of Denmark’s most radical artist collectives: Helhesten (1941 – 1944), also with a magazine of the same name (‘the Hell Horse’). Helhesten was initiated by Asger Jorn. Among the many other artists involved were Ejler Bille, Henry Heerup, Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt. During the German occupation of Denmark, Danish artists were initially barely subject to censorship or other limitations. Unlike the Netherlands and Belgium, they could create and exhibit art until 1943 without worrying about the consequences. The occupation, the isolation from foreign countries and the close collaboration between the artists in the art magazine Helhesten formed a pressure cooker in which Danish art transformed pre-war surrealism into spontaneous abstraction and highly socially engaged art.

Helhesten‘s art was one of the great pioneers of later Cobra art: many of the Helhesten artists were involved in Cobra from the beginning. The developments in Danish art between the end of the war and the start of Cobra are the main focus of the final part of the exhibition.

Precursor to Cobra
In the years 1934-1948, a spontaneous, abstract art form developed that was unique to Denmark and would later be an important pioneer for the Cobra movement (1948-1951). The artists who started Cobra came from the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. The Dutch and Belgian artists were relatively young, unlike the Danish artists who were on average 10-15 years older. They had already experienced artistic development before and during World War II, and exhibited a lot of art. In doing so, they had a great influence on the younger generation of Cobra artists. Never before has an exhibition outside of Denmark been dedicated to this subject. Moreover, We Kiss the Earth breaks through the traditional canon of art history and also showcases women artists and artists who have often been ignored in conventional Danish and international art history, such as Else Alfelt, Franciska Clausen, Rita Kernn-Larsen and Elsa Thoresen.

Catalogue We Kiss the Earth at the museum shop
The exhibition We Kiss the Earth. Danish Modern Art 1934-1948 is part of the anniversary year Cobra 75 and, together with the exhibitions Je est un autre. Ernest Mancoba & Sonja Ferlov and Becoming Ovartaci  forms a triptych on Danish modern art. The three exhibitions are accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue compiled by the guest curators and published bilingually (Dutch and English) by Waanders Uitgevers. The book We Kiss the Earth is available at the Cobra Museum shop, among others.

Title – quote by Heerup
The title of the exhibition refers to a 1944 quote by Danish sculptor and painter Henry Heerup, in which he advocates abolishing pedestals to display sculptures on. These would get in the way of art and viewers and literally raise the threshold for enjoying art. Heerup wanted to bring art closer to the people and exhibited his works directly on the grass and earth: he kissed the Earth (he writes: “Vi Kysser Jorden” – “We Kiss the Earth”).

Guest-curator Pim Arts
The exhibition We Kiss the Earth. Danish Modern Art 1934-1948 is curated by guest curator Pim Arts, in collaboration with Hilde de Bruijn, who was also responsible for the concept of this Danish triptych. Pim Arts studied Art History and obtained his Master’s Degree from the University of Groningen. He holds a second master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Arts has since held curatorial positions at the Cobra Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Karel Appel Foundation and Museum Catharijneconvent.

Celebrating Cobra 75
2023 marks 75 years since the revolutionary Cobra movement was founded in Paris. The Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen is celebrating this anniversary year with a major exhibition programme. Cobra (1948-1951) was an international movement of young, progressive artists creating colourful, expressive-spontaneous art. In the years after World War II, they caused a revolution: a breakthrough in modern art that continues to this day in artistic conceptions and artistic expressions. The name Cobra is a composite of: Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. The capitals where the founders of this artist group originated. These include Jorn from Denmark, Dotremont and Noiret from Belgium, Appel, Corneille and Constant from the Netherlands. Besides these big names, the Cobra Museum makes a strong case for an inclusive approach to the Cobra movement and regularly adds to the traditional Cobra canon. In 2019, for example, there was a major exhibition “New Nuances” specially dedicated to women artists in and around Cobra.

With thanks to
The anniversary programme Cobra 75 has been made possible by our partners and generous supporters. We especially thank the municipality of Amstelveen, VriendenLoterij, Trebbe, BPD, Rabobank Amstel & Vecht, Hizkia, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Carlsberg foundation, Embassy of Denmark, KEIM and the Cobra Business Club.

Zinsou, an African Art Collection

This year the Cobra Museum has a special focus on art from different parts of Africa. In doing so, we follow the example of a number of Cobra artists in their fascination for African art. In the autumn we present the exhibition Cosmogony: Zinsou, an African Art Collection with a selection of 130 works of art by 37 African artists, from different countries and from different generations. The Cobra Museum supplements this imaginative exhibition with an original program of activities.

On the occasion of an African-French conference in Montpellier in 2021, dedicated to culture, creativity and innovation, MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporary in the exhibition Cosmogonies: Zinsou, une collection africaine, where a large part of the Zinsou art collection was shown for the first time in Europe. The selection of artworks, consisting of sculptures, photography, paintings and installations, was presented around the theme of ‘Cosmogony’ and refers to the study of the creation of the cosmos. This concept has led to several themes in this exhibition: ‘Alphabet and Codes’, ‘Identity and Memory’,  ‘Life As It Comes’, ‘Pose and Staging ‘, ‘Critical Reflection’, ‘Mythology and Symbols’ and ‘Metamorphoses’. Exhibiting this collection in this context has been done with the desire to raise awareness among people of the vibrant contemporary art scene that is present all over the African continent. In addition to internationally recognized names such as Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Cyprien Tokoudagba, Mallick Sidibé, Chéri Samba and Zanele Muholi, they also came into contact with young talent, giving them a better idea of ​​the modern influences that shape the contemporary experience alongside cultural traditions. in Africa.

Building on the intention of MO.CO Montpellier, the Cobra Museum also wants to introduce the Dutch public to this African art collection, whose works not only all come from Africa, but the collection itself was created in Benin. The exhibition provides the Zinsou Foundation with a platform to present part of their special collection on an international scale, and the Dutch public is given the exceptional opportunity to get to know the contemporary African art world in depth. The Cobra Museum welcomes this treasure chest of contemporary African art and hopes that it can make a substantial contribution to broadening and diversifying the art offered in Dutch museums.