''Helhesten'' () was an arts and literary magazine which was published between 1941 and 1944 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was one of the leading publications during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the region. Its title was a reference to a figure in the

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

History and profile

''Helhesten'' was first published in Copenhagen in April 1941 during the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

of the city. The magazine was inspired from two former Danish magazines, '' Klingen'' and ''Linien''. The founders of ''Helhesten'' were

Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. The largest collection of Jorn's works� ...

, a painter, and Robert Dahlmann, an architect. They were part of the Danish Harvest group. Robert Dahlmann also edited the magazine. The magazine adopted an avant-garde approach and opposed the

Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...

. Its main contributors who were supporters of German expressionism,

dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

and

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

included Ejler Bille, Henry Heerup, Egill Jacobsen and

Carl-Henning Pedersen Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a key member of the COBRA movement. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20 ...

. They were also interested in the art of the banal. It mostly featured articles on

art theory Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

, non-Western work, literature, poetry, film, architecture, and photography in addition to the reviews of

art exhibitions An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanen ...

and biographies of Danish artists. Asger Jorn's translation of the work by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

was serialized in ''Helhesten'' which was the first translation of Kafka into Danish. The magazine produced a total of nine issues before its closure in November 1944. The reason for its closure was the financial problems. It was succeeded by another magazine entitled ''

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helhesten 1941 establishments in Denmark 1944 disestablishments in Denmark Avant-garde magazines Danish-language magazines Defunct literary magazines published in Europe Defunct magazines published in Denmark Magazines established in 1941 Magazines disestablished in 1944 Magazines published in Copenhagen Literary translation magazines Visual arts magazines Literary magazines published in Denmark Expressionist works Surrealist works

History and profile

See also

References