Invisible insurrection of a million minds

The Situationist International was a loose affiliation of European political radicals, socialists and anarchists, which existed between 1957 and 1972. The two leading Situationists were the philosopher Guy Debord (author of The Society of the Spectacle) and the Danish artist Asger Jorn. Although they were a small, fringe group, the Situationists had a profound affect on the European counterculture and the development of avant-garde art in the 1960s—much more so than the superficially similar Yippies in the USA. The essential aim of Situationism is neatly summed up in the title of the Situationist manifesto published by the Scottish writer Alex Trocchi in 1962, Invisible insurrection of a million minds. Or, in the words of a famous graffito that appeared on Paris walls during the Évènements of May 1968, “Be realistic—demand the impossible!”

Asger Jorn (Danish, 1914-1973)

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Despite the importance of Asger Jorn to the movement, the Situationists were more comfortable with staged happenings than with art that could be hung an a gallery wall and sold. In fact in 1962 the members of the German art collective SPUR were expelled en masse because of their commercial activities. Asger Jorn had resigned the previous year, but this seems to have been a token action, as he rejoined the next day under the pseudonym George Keller.

Arne Haugen Sørensen (Danish, 1932- )

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Antonio Saura (Spanish, 1930-1998)

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Yasse Tabuchi (Tabuchi Yesukazu, Japanese, 1921-2009)

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Asger Jorn was also one of the leaders of the Pop Art group CoBrA (Copenhagen/Brussels/Amsterdam), founded in 1948 in Paris. Other leading CoBrA artists were Karel Appel from the Netherlands and Pierre Alechinsky from Belgium. Officially active only from 1948-1952, the essence of CoBrA’s anarchic experimentation was profoundly influential on the European art of the 1950s and 60s. It can be seen for instance, in the work of the avant-grade artists who formed the Paris-based movement Figuration Narrative, launched with the exhibition Mythologies Quotidiennes at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1964.

Pierre Alechinsky, Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Reinhoud d'Haese (Belgian, 1928-2007)

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

The artists of these two movements, CoBrA and Figuration Narrative, make up the bulk of the contributors to the 6th and last issue of the journal Situationist Times (Les Temps Situationistes), published in 1967 under the editorship of Jacqueline de Jong. This issue consists of 33 original lithographs, printed by Clot, Bramsen et Georges, by artists sympathetic to Situationism. It is notable that none of the Gruppe Spur artists are featured.

Jacqueline de Jong, On fait ce qu'on peux

Hanlor (German?, active 1960s)

Projet pour un relief variable

Lithograph, 1967

Situationist Times 6 was published in an edition of 2500 copies. This is a fairly substantial run, but as the journal was aimed at a readership of anarchists and hippies, I suspect many fewer than that will have survived the travails of time (especially as the lithographs were so lightly attached to the cover, itself a litho by Ulf Trotzig, that the entire publication is liable to fall apart as soon as it is opened).

Roland Topor (French, 1938-1997)

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Contributors associated with CoBrA include Alechinsky and Jorn, plus the Japanese artist Yasse Tabuchi, the Belgian Reinhoud d’Haese, Ulf Trotzig from Sweden, and Jacqueline de Jong herself. Another movement of the European avant-garde represented in this issue of Situationist Times is the Naples-based Gruppo 58, whose members included Guido Biasi and Lucio del Pezzo.

Guido Biasi, Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Lucio del Pezzo (Italian, 1933- )

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Milvia Maglione (Italian, 1943-2010)

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Les Temps Situationistes 6 is a wonderful document of European Pop Art and radical chic, with a psychedelic flavour redolent of the idealistic days of 1967, and a political edge anticipating the social upheavals of 1968. Several of the lithographs could be out-takes from the Beatles' 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine.

Maurice Henry (French, 1907-1984)

Untitled composition

Lithograph, 1967

Hannes Postma (Dutch, 1933- )

Mimicry in No-Mans Land

Lithograph, 1967

I have two further posts to come on this fascinating document of 1960s rebellion: one on the Figuration Narrative artists, and another on the surprising number of Latin American contributors.