Photo certificate signed by Pierre Alechinsky le 25.02.2004 to follow this lot.

Exhibited: “Kunstkring. Alechinsky, peintures; Reinhoud sculptures”, Rotterdam, 31 March - 30 April 1961. Exhibited: “Alechinsky+Reinhoud”, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 26 May - 26 June 1961, cat. no. 24. Provenance: Galerie Ariel, Paris. Provenance: Galerie de France, Paris. Proveniens: Galleria Muciaccia, Rome. Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.

More than 75 years ago, a small group of like-minded artists gathers in a café and formulates the ideas that will later form the foundation of CoBrA. Although the movement has a relatively short lifespan, its artistic creations still resonate today, and the hope of creating a community through art—to rebuild and bring people together in the aftermath of a devastating war—remains, unfortunately, more relevant than ever.

As the youngest artist in the movement, Pierre Alechinsky is not present at CoBrA’s inception, but he draws inspiration from the visions shared by his older colleagues. He dedicates himself to collaborative projects, exhibition organization, and the CoBrA journal, with his own artistic production temporarily taking a backseat.

Today, Alechinsky is recognized as one of the most significant living artists. Drawing on his background in typography, he is known for his narrative and poetic pictorial friezes, which often encircle his works and offer commentary on their meaning. His art combines elements of East Asian culture, calligraphy, and comic book aesthetics, uniting Tachist abstraction with spontaneous expression.

Later in his career Alechinsky works almost exclusively with paper. However, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he creates a number of impressive works, several of which focus on water as a central theme. In one such work, the title Les inondés (The Flooded) evokes the infinite power of water—both life-giving and destructive. Abstract and figurative elements merge as the water becomes tangible through thick, undulating brushstrokes. Unsurprisingly, blue dominates this vibrant palette—sea green, lavender, cinnabar, beige, burgundy, and white—with a force so powerful that it seems to threaten bursting beyond the frame. The eye moves restlessly across the canvas, searching for familiar forms. Are we glimpsing tiny creatures being swept up in the swirling current?