The Belgian graphic artist and painter Pierre Alechinsky had three intense years with the group of the far more experienced CoBrA artists. During a visit to Copenhagen, Alechinsky attended Carl-Henning Pedersen’s major solo exhibition at Den Frie udstillingsbygning (The Free Exhibition Building). And here he met another Dane: Asger Jorn. Alechinsky consequently joined CoBrA in 1949, together with Christian Dotremont, Karel Appel, Constant and Jan Nieuwenhuys, among others. As a young artist of just 22 who had not yet formulated his own expression, he was probably also the artist upon whom CoBrA had the greatest formal impact. Alechinsky was particularly interested in the theories and the thinking surrounding the group’s joint artistic work and in the publication of the group’s most important mouthpiece – the CoBrA journal. His training as a book illustrator and typographer from the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels is very much apparent throughout Alechinsky’s oeuvre.
Another consistent artistic trait is rooted in his in-depth knowledge of Eastern culture and calligraphy. For Alechinsky, art became a balancing of opposites. Alechinsky’s paintings are therefore also primarily painted in acrylics due to the flexibility of the material, rather than the heavier oil-based paint.
The Works, Pierre Alechinsky and the Thoughts of the Paintbrush
In the early 1950s, Alechinsky worked as a correspondent in Paris for the Japanese newspaper Bokubi. Inspired by Japanese calligraphy, he exhibited “Night” in 1952 at the Ohara Museum, Kurashiki, and made the film “Japanese Calligraphy” – Christian Dotremont wrote the commentary with music by André Souris. Alechinsky enjoyed a close relationship with Christian Dotremont and the French surrealist André Breton, and he has also worked with Walasse Ting. In 1960 alone, Alechinsky exhibited in London, Bern, Pittsburgh, New York, Amsterdam, Silkeborg and at the Biennale in Venice. Alechinsky has also exhibited several times at Documenta in Kassel. In 2017, on the occasion of Alechinsky’s 90th birthday, a number of his most significant works were exhibited at Museum Jorn (Pierre Alechinsky – Standhaftighed (perseverence)) in Silkeborg. Among several main works, the 3 x 9-metre ceramic relief “Thoughts of the Paintbrush” is his masterpiece.
Pierre Alechinsky at the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Gallery
Alechinsky’s art is easy to be taken with, and his ideas about the essence of art have resonated internationally. In 1983 he became an art professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He remains active behind the canvas today and is rightly considered one of the most influential living artists in Europe. Alechinsky is also represented at the world’s biggest museums – from the Centre Pompidou in Paris to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, not to mention with a large collection at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem. As recently as 2023, Alechinsky exhibited “Pierre Alechinsky: Dernières nouvelles”, at Galerie Lelong & Co. His paintings and lithographs are always highly sought after at auctions.
Prestigious Nominations and Awards for Pierre Alechinsky
2000 – An asteroid belt in space is named in honour of the artist “14832 Alechinsky”
2006 – Officer of the Legion of Honour
2010 – Honorary Doctorate at the University of Liège
2018 – Praemium Imperiale awarded by the Japan Art Association
Pierre Alechinsky Works for Sale at Bruun Rasmussen
At Bruun Rasmussen, we have works for sale that arouse interest and are relevant to buyers and collectors. Here, you can keep an eye on the works by Pierre Alechinsky that you can bid on right now.
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