CoBrA

In 1948, in reaction to the disputes between abstract and figurative artists, a group of painters from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam founded the CoBrA movement.
Drawing heavily from the folk art of "Viking" countries, primitive art, expressionism, and automatism, they expressed a vitality of gesture (never explored before, except by Joan MIRO), aligning with a libertarian poetry that opposed the intellectual elitism of André Breton and the Parisian artists who then dominated the art world (and boasted about it).
While they mirror what Jackson Pollock was developing at the same time in the United States: a free and primitive "Action Painting," they are also in line with a return to creation that takes into account the foundational elements of life: earth, water, and fire...
Although the movement quickly splintered (1951) due to strong and ultimately antagonistic individualities, it remains one of the most important post-war movements in Europe, given the talent of the painters who comprised it.
In Belgium, notably Alechinsky, Corneille, Ubac, or Pol Bury; in Denmark, Jorn and Jacobsen; in the Netherlands, Appel; and in Sweden, the most Viking of them all: Bengt Lindström.

Alechinsky Pierre

Appel Karel

Corneille Guillaume

Lindström Bengt