Work

Drawn on the inside of Bibliothèque de Cobra | Constant, ca 1950.

This work was painted in Amsterdam and its original title was ‘A Nous la Liberté'. In a letter to the curator of the Tate Modern, dated 6 February 1988 Constant recalled the ‘general mood' from which the painting emerged and explained why the title was later changed:

After the five years of the German Occupation, during which hardly any work of other painters was to be seen, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam organised a large show of contemporary Dutch art, entitled ‘Kunst in vryheid' (Art in freedom).

This huge painting "Barricade" [372 × 300 cm] was made in 1949 for the exhibition International Exhibition of Experimental Art' at Stedelik Museum Amsterdam.

Donated to Stedelijk Museum Schiedam by Hans Sonnenberg in 2016.

In May 1949, Constand and his family visit Asger Jorn on the Danish island Bornholm. A personal tragedy takes place when Constant's wife, Matie, leaves him for Jorn. She takes their two daughters Martha and Olga and leaves their only son, Victor, with Constant. 

Constant processes his heartache through his art: in Femme qui a blessé un oiseau avec une feuille morte, the bird represents himself and Jorn is depicted as a dead leaf.