Galerie Børge Birch

Allis Helleland, Jorgen Haugen Sorensen - A Biography:

In cooperation with Birch, he now got, for the first time, the possibility to work with the expensive bronze. Until then, he had thought many of his sculptures in bronze, but the economy had forced him to work in plaster and cement, which he had painted in bronze color to look like bronze. In the workshop of bronze molder Terman Sorensen in Farum he addressed the complex bronze casting technique cire perdue (lost wax), which had been known since Antiquity. Over a core of clay he modeled his character in wax, encapsulated everything into a mold mantle of clay, melted out the wax, poured the liquid bronze into the resulting cavity and the pure bronzesculpture was what was left. As was the case with the tubesculptures Jorgen was able - in the new bronze sculptures - to rethink the being of the sculpture. Again, he shows an intense understanding of the material with which he works.

The bronze sculptures were conceived together with the tubesculptures for the show in Birch's new gallery. Pierre Lübecker characterized it thus in the newspaper Politiken: "Some would say they are abstract. But it is not true. They are just turned inside outwards, all together, and as figures who have risen up from the subconscious. We know them from our fever visions and nightmare. They are ferocious, demonic, akin to the primitive peoples avenging gods. And for their evil adds the mockery, sneer at the world and shows us its infirmities. "

Violence and war were unfortunately still part of the reality, and for Jorgen still necessary to portray the world as a slaughterhouse. Portrait of a war (ill.s. 44), The Soldier and the little foghorn are clear depictions of what the war's brutality and stupidity do to people.

The exhibition in October 1960 at Birch's newly opened gallery in Admiral Street 25 was a huge success artistically as well as saleswise. The new tube and bronze sculptures were of high artistic quality and somewhat provoking the bourgeoisie, so all 35 works were sold during the first two hours on the opening day, several to foreign galleries and museums. The press coverage was overwhelming. Birch had done well to keep the young talented sculptor. And Jorgen had delievered and got money to continue working with bronze. Furthermore New Carlsberg Foundation granted him the Great Travelscollarship, so he and his wife and child could go back to Paris and from there travel to the big bronze foundries in northern Italy.

But he continued to remain in close contact with Denmark. It was mainly here that money and assignments were. The relationship with Birch developed into a close friendship, and they were in the following years together a lot, both in Denmark and in Paris. They enjoyed each other's company, Birch was full of gumption and possessed the necessary audacity, that was necessary to succeed in the commercial art world. 
Often Jorgen felt cheated by him, but Birch was forgiven when he also helped him - and they really had fun together. They traveled together, including to Mallorca, and went to boxing matches together. It was important for Birch to have the artist with him when he went on "sales tours" to the customers in Jutland. In particular, they had good regular customers in Herning, Randers, with visits turning into parties when they came. Numerous are the stories about how Birch during visits to a collector could reorder all the works of art in the house, leaving just that empty space for a sculpture by Jorgen. At the same time Birch was close to Asger Jorn, who had plenty of international contacts in both the French and northern Italian art scene.