Pierre Alechinsky

Pierre Alechinsky (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ aleʃɛ̃ski]; born 19 October 1927) is a Belgian artist. He has lived and worked in France since 1951. His work is related to tachisme, abstract expressionism, and lyrical abstraction.

Alechinsky was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium, to a Russian Jewish father and a Belgian Walloon mother. In 1944, he attended the l'École nationale supérieure d'Architecture et des Arts décoratifs de La Cambre, Brussels where he studied illustration techniques, printing, and photography. In 1945, he discovered the work of Henri Michaux, Jean Dubuffet and developed a friendship with the art critic Jacques Putman.

In 1949, he joined Christian Dotremont, Karel Appel, Constant, Jan Nieuwenhuys, and Asger Jorn to form the art group COBRA. He participated both with the COBRA exhibitions and went to Paris to study engraving at Atelier 17 under the guidance of Stanley William Hayter in 1951.

In 1954, he had his first exhibition in Paris and started to become interested in Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.