In the summer of 2008 i had the pleasure to be able to visit Asger Jorn’s Villa in Albissola, it is situated on Via Gabriele D'Annunzio 8 Albissola Marina, Italy with a fantastic view over Albissola.
From home we had arranged the visit, as the opening hours were not available on the internet at that time.
We walked around the villa for almost 2 hours, and took a lot of pictures, it is almost impossible to imagine how much ceramic decoration Asger Jorn had put into this villa, but I’ll try to show some of it.
This big ceramic relief meet us just to the right when we entered the house, it is about
I was a little annoyed that they had piled up 3-4 chairs leaning at it.. A little respect for art is wanted.
When i turned around there was anothe relief, it is a study for the big relief created for Randers Kunstmuseum in
Ref. Asger Jorn i Italien : Urtsula Lehmann-Brockhaus Page 192 (size 1:5)
And it went on and on, next room which according to what i have seen must have been used as atalier was filled with reliefs, please note the vase at the bottom, it stood in the same place in 1972, ( picture seen in the book Jorn / Le Jardin D’Albisola ) .
Close up of the vase.
We went on, up the stairs.. and this showed up..
What more could be to see... much...
Further more there was a lot of ceramic works on the outside of the walls, even the pavement was made by Jorn, he had picked up broken ceramic pieces from the ceramic factories in Albissola and placed them in a spectacular patterns allover the estaste.
I was astonished about all i saw, but i must say that Albisola municipality doesn’t do enough to do this to a museum.
When i visited it an exhibition or ‘storage’ of the art collector Allesandro Passaré was on display.
So when i wanted to look at a fresco like painting that Jorn had painted, i had to see it behind wires for lightning to this exhibition, even though i think that these artworks are of a bigger value than Passarè’s collection.
By now this is the last ceramic work I’ll show, there is much more, i can only recommend all travellers that comes close to
This work was on the outside wall, propably made one of the last times Asger Jorn was in Albissola.
Now I’ll try to tell a little about the history of the villa.
Asger had after his ilness in the early 50’es tried to live in countries with a climate better suitable to his tuberculosis , he had tried Schweiz, and Albissola, where he lived in an old storage building on Via Italia, he decided in the end to remain in Albissola, he knew Umberto Gambetta, and together they looked for a house for Asger Jorn and his family, they found a ruin high above Albissola, and with the help of Umberto and his wife Teresa they made it possible to live in, Jorn bought it from signora Parzano, and paid ‘what he was able to’ as far as Umberto remembers he paid about 5-6 € a month for some years, after paying her off he gave her a painting, which Umberto valued to more than 4 times the value that Jorn had paid for the house, but then both Jorn and signora Parzano had made a fine deal...
Umberto was a builder, and thanks to him the house was soon useful for living in, and soon Jorn and his family moved in, so did Umberto and Teresa, and they lived here together for the next 16 years, now Jorn filled it all with ceramic reliefs, described above.
While working on the house Umberto told about his war experience in world war 2 at the front at Stalingrad, Jorn started to use this story as an inspiration to a painting, which he worked on many times over the years, latest in 1972 shortly before he died, the work is now on display at Silkeborg Museum ‘The Asger Jorn Museum’, it is the biggest painting Jorn ever painted, about
In 1959, after Jorn’s pictures started selling at reasonable prices he bought the villa next to his, to have more room.
Jorn visited the villa from time to time, and could dissapear for weeks without notice, either to he’s other atalier in
In late 1972 Asger Jorn was informed that he had lunge cancer and that it was incurble, he was hospitalised in
In marts there was a pause in the treatment, and Jorn asked to be discharged from the hospital.
Jorn wanted to take care of Umberto and Teresa, so he wanted to travel to Albissola, here he wrote a simple will, he wanted to hand over his estate in Albissola to the Albissola municipality on that condition that Umberto and Teresa should be allowed to live there until their death, and furthermore that all of Asger Jorns family would not be allowed to enter the estate.
The ‘will’ was never correctly registred but the municipality respected the paper.
Umberto and Teresa died in 1997 and 1998, and then the municipality started renovating the house, the roof has been replaced, and more work is going on, maybe they should renovate a few of the artworks, i have not shown the wall which is mostly damaged, but hopes that it will be restored over the years.
When we vistied the house they had placed a tarpulin over a glass extension, as it looked as if the sun had bleached this wall painting.
Arnaldi told me that in Italy it is easier to get funding for renovating ancient buildings, so funding is missing to complete the renovating og Asger Jorn’s villa, the other building which we guess is nr. 6 was still not able to visit, as it was a building site, but i got some photos of the exterior, and that looks promising for what will be at display inside.
It has now taken 10 years, and there is still much work to be done, but if the interest rises, maybe some rich people will donate money for renovating both villas.
Arnaldi furthermore told me that due to the size of the villa they are not allowed to take an entrace fee, even though it’s called a museum.
I will end this with a picture of me talking to Arnaldi concerning one of the Passaré collection pictures by Alberto Burri, which according to Arnaldi was one of the first artists to use plasctic in art.
Finally, the sources for all this info.
Ulla Andersen : Buttadeo
Troels Andersen : En Biografi 1953-1973
Jorn / Le Jardin D’albisola
Joergen Aagerup : Asger Jorn – som vi husker ham.
Pierre Amarouche / Giuliano Arnaldi : Via Passaré
My own picturres taken when i visited the villa on a hot summerday 7. juli 2008
And not to forget, pleasent conversation with Giuliano Arnaldi.
Link to article in 
Casa Jorn By Jeremy Hunt
Link to Rizzoli - Richard Olsens book 'Handmade houses' which includes pictures and description of Jorns Villa in Albissola.
