The Experimental Group

The Experimental Group was a group of artists that united in 1948. The group experimented with new colours, shapes, materials and subjects. The organ of the group was a leaf called Reflex, and sometimes the Experimental Group was called Reflex. This magazine contained a 'manifesto' with all the principles of the group. This manifesto also remained of great importance to the Cobra group. One of the founders of the Experimental Group, Constant Nieuwenhuys, writes extensively about the social role of the artist and in his articles he calls for the liberation of creativity and fantasy. He wants a new society with new art. Finally, later in 1948, the Dutch Experimental Group merged with the Danish Høst group and the Belgian Groupe Surréaliste Révolutionaire into the Cobra group.