| CoBrA Painting - The History | | | | After being founded in the confines of |
| CoBrA was a niche art movement of Europe that | | | | Café Notre-Dame in Paris, the movement |
| was existent for a very brief period of | | | | gained momentum, with many artists joining in. |
| approximately three years from 1949 through | | | | Some of the leading names associated with the |
| 1952. Artists Karel Appel, Joseph Noiret, Constant, | | | | CoBrA Painting were Pieter Ouborg, Pierre |
| Asger Oluf Jorn, Corneille, Christian Dotremont, | | | | Alechinsky, Aart Kemink, Svavar Guðnason, |
| and Christian, started this movement in Paris, | | | | Jean-Michel Atlan, Hugo Claus, Carl-Henning |
| through a manifesto titled, 'The Case was Heard.' | | | | Pedersen, and Pierre Alechinsky. |
| These artists hailed from Copenhagen, Brussels, | | | | CoBrA Masterpieces |
| and Amsterdam. This inspired Dotremont to name | | | | In its brief spell, CoBrA provided fertile field for |
| this movement CoBrA, using the initial letters of | | | | some of the most cherished pieces of Modern |
| their hometowns. To quite an extent, this | | | | Art scene. Asger Jorn's 'Untitled 96' is one such |
| movement was Anti-Surrealist in philosophy. It | | | | work of oil on cardboard. It is remarkable for its |
| rejected the concept of Automatic Drawing, | | | | bright color streaks that attach a sense of mystic |
| which emphasized the 'voice' of the subconscious. | | | | complexity to the thought process of the artist. |
| The Intricacies | | | | In contrast, his 'Untitled,' dated 1956-57 is a work |
| CoBrA kept its technique free from any accepted | | | | of blended tinges and hues, rather than the |
| conventions of color, form, and themes. It was a | | | | random brushstrokes of thick color. The apparent |
| style of openness, unencumbered thoughts, | | | | contrast of the two works is exemplary of the |
| spontaneity, and experimentation. The painters of | | | | free 'style' that CoBrA painters adopted. Similarly, |
| this genre turned back the clock in time, in the | | | | 'Hip Hip Hoorah' and 'Little Moon Men' by Karel |
| terms of their reference to the art style of the | | | | Appel underline varying styles. The first painting |
| earliest human civilization. Children drawings and | | | | lives up to its title, owing to its extremely bright |
| fusion painters like Paul Klee and Joan Miro, a | | | | color scheme, against a jet black background. On |
| Surrealist highly influenced them. Despite their | | | | the other hand, 'Little Moon Men' is a |
| disregard for artistic diction, the CoBrA paintings | | | | monochromatic work set in little shading and |
| were identified by their primitive look, fast colors, | | | | sketching to indicate nighttime. |
| thick & visible brushstrokes, and | | | | CoBrA movement developed such a strong |
| unsymmetrical figures. Often a parallel is drawn | | | | collection of revolutionary pieces in its three-year |
| between CoBrA and Action Painting of America, | | | | tenure that it became a turning point in the |
| which employs painting through a natural or a | | | | history of Western Art. It became the |
| forced movement of color on the canvas, as | | | | predecessor and lead motivator for the potent |
| against a careful application by brush. | | | | European Abstract Expressionism and French |
| CoBrA Painters | | | | Tachisme genre of paintings. |