Willemijn Stokvis's Comprehensive Cobra Book Published by Gallimard

Willemijn Stokvis has authored an exhaustive volume on the Cobra movement, published by Éditions Gallimard. The book examines the avant-garde group formed after World War II, when European artists rebelled against traditional art values in conjunction with revolutionary politics. Cobra's name derives from the cities of Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam, combining their first letters. Founders included Danish artist Asger Jorn, Belgian poet Christian Dotremont, and Dutch painter Constant Nieuwenhuys. The group quickly attracted other painters and poets such as Karel Appel, Corneille, Hugo Claus, and Pierre Alechinsky. They declared civilization dead, rejected aestheticism, and sought to liberate the world from social and moral constraints. The movement, like many avant-garde groups, eventually dissolved, leaving behind works of uneven quality. Stokvis's pedagogical album allows readers to assess the movement's legacy.