Pierre Alechinsky

(19 October 1927 in Saint-Gilles-lez-Bruxelles - Belgium)

As a student of typography and illustration at the Ecole nationale d'architecture et des arts décoratifs de la Cambre (Brussels), he discovered in 1945 the work of Henri Michaux de Dubuffet, the Surrealists, and became friends with the art critic Jacques Putman.
In 1949, he met Dotremont and joined the Cobra movement that same year with Asger Jorn and Karel Appel) and was one of the most productive members until the dissolution of the movement in 1951. Alechinsky took part in the first International Cobra Exhibition at the Stedjelijk Museum in Amsterdam and in 1954 he met the Chinese painter Wallace Ting who would play an important role in the development of his work.
In the 1950s, the artist spent time in the Far East, then in the United States; he became interested in Japanese calligraphy and Action Painting, which would have a lasting influence on his work.
The artist produced a very large number of lithographs and engravings; passionate about books, he illustrated poems and texts (Cioran, Butor, Yves Bonnefoy, André Frénaud, Tardieu, etc.) and published numerous works.

In 1983, Alechinsky became professor of painting at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris.