Pierre Alechinsky was born in 1927 in Brussels. From an early age he was interested in graphic arts and in 1944 he entered the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et des Arts Décoratifs in Brussels, where he studied book illustration and typography. He also painted in a post-Cubist style and later in a manner reminiscent of Ensor. His paintings of monstrous women were shown in his first one-man exhibition at the Galerie Lou Cosyn in Brussels in 1947. That same year he became a member of the group Jeune Peinture Belge.
In 1948 expressionist artists including Appel, Jorn, Constant, Carl-Henning Pedersen and Corneille formed the CoBrA group. Alechinsky joined CoBrA in 1949 and participated in the first Internationale tentoonstelling experimentele kunst-CoBrA that year at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. He became a central figure in the group and organised its second international exhibition in Liège, Belgium, in 1951. Shortly thereafter CoBrA disbanded.
Alechinsky moved to Paris in 1951 to study printmaking under a grant from the French government. He studied engraving with Hayter at the Atelier 17 in 1952. At about the same time he became fascinated by the Japanese calligraphy and in 1955 he went to Tokyo and Kyoto. There he visited masters of the art and produced the award winning film Calligraphie japonaise. In the 1960s Alechinsky travelled extensively in Europe, the United States and Mexico and participated in numerous international exhibitions. An Alechinsky retrospective organized by The Arts Club of Chicago toured the United States in 1965. In 1976 he became the first recipient of the prestigious Andrew W. Mellon Prize for artists. The prize was accompanied by a major retrospective of his work in all media at the Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, in 1977. The artist continues to paint and to make prints and book illustrations at his home in Bourgival, France.
Parts 1-3 will show a broad spectrum of Alechinsky’s work in chronological order. Part 4 looks at some print editions.
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| 1950-53 Le Feu oil on canvas 97 x 130 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1951 L´Hiver oil on canvas 100 x 150 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1955 Central Park ink on paper 44 x 65 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1955 Montagne regardant oil on canvas 97 x 146 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1958 Tu te calmes? ink on paper 151 x 215 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1960 Négatif ink on paper mounted on canvas 154 x 158 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1960 Positif ink on paper 150 x 154 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1960 Prenez La Porte oil on canvas 50 x 65.3 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1960 Soutien de famille oil on canvas 200 x 200 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1961 Alice grandit oil on canvas 205 x 245 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1961 La Parole aux enfants oil on canvas 97 x 130 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1962 De nouvelles dispositions oil on canvas © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1963 Autrement dit watercolour on paper © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1963 Referendum ink on paper 50 x 60 in © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1964 Avec Lewis Carroll oil on canvas 198 x 198 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1964 Les Intempéries du langage oil on canvas 200 x 200 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1965 Central Park acrylic on paper 162 x 193 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1965 Central Park ink on paper 23 x 30.5 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1965 Central Park ink on paper 49 x 61 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1966 La Cantatrice acrylic on canvas 100 x 154 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1966-67 La Jeune Fille et la Mort acrylic on paper 137 x 137 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1966-68 A vue d´oeil d´oiseau oil on canvas 200 x 274 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1967 Gong acrylic on paper 118 x 151 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1968 Parmi les derniéres oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1968 Tribord lithograph 49 x 66 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| c1968 Untitled ink and watercolour on paper 26.1 x 39.4 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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| 1969 Astre Désastre acrylic on paper 155 x 155 cm © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris |
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