Pierre Alechinsky

After completing his studies at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in 1947, Pierre Alechinsky immediately became one of the founders and most active members of the CoBrA group . He began working with other members ‘four-handed’, especially with Appel and Dotremont, producing oil paintings filled with a multitude of small figures; his taste for ironical titles and curved lines was already becoming evident.

After Cobra disbanded, Alechinsky moved to Paris where he studied printmaking and moved in Surrealist circles. His work contains residual figurative motifs, such as goblins, reptiles of every description, volcanoes, and rushing streams. The beasts and geographical elements arouse disquiet as well as smiles of complicity.

The recipient of the Andrew Mellon Prize in 1977, Alechinsky is represented in the collections of sixty-five of the world’s leading museums