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Bougival, 1985
SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM LIBRARY
Pierre Alechinsky: Margin and Center
This exhibition has received generous support from the
Commissariat General aux Relations Internationales
de la Communaute Francaise de Belgique, Brussels,
and the Association Francaise d'Action Artistique,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

This Exhibition is Dedicated to John Lefebre.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publn
Alechinsky, Pierre, 1927-
Pierre Alechinsky.
Catalog of an exhibition held at the Solomon

R. Guggenheim Museum.
Bibliography: pp. 168-169
1. Alechinsky, Pierre, 1927- Exhibitions.

I. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. II. Title.
N6973.A4A4 1987 760'. 092^ 86-31380

ISBN 0-89207-061-7
cover: With Michel Portal. 1980 (cat. no. 103). Collection Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, New York, Anonymous Gift
Drawings reproduced throughout the catalogue which are not in the
exhibition are from Pierre Alechinsky, he bureau du titre, Fata
Morgana, Montpellier, 1983; Gilbert Lascault, Arrondissements, Reperes,

Daniel Lelong, Pans, 1983; Michel Butor and Michel Sicard, ABC
de Correspondance, Reperes, Daniel Lelong, Paris, 1985; and Michel
Butor and Michel Sicard, Alechinsky dans le texte, Editions Galilee, Paris, 1985
Published by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, 1987
Copyright 1987 by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

"Central Park" copyright 1987 by Octavio Paz; English translation
copyright 1987 by Eliot Weinberger
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Lenders to the Exhibition 7
Preface and Acknowledgments Thomas M. Messer 8
Central Park Octavio Paz 10
Bordering on Something Central Pierre Alechinsky and Michael Gibson 15
Works in the Exhibi 33
Chronology t49
Selected Exhibitions 156
Selected Bibliography 168
Photographic Credits 171

i 'iiinrlc^b
LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITION
Micky and Pierre Alechinsky
Norman and Irma Braman
Jerome and Marlene Brody
Mr. and Mrs. Michel David- Weill, New York

Michel Fribourg, New York
Guy Georges, Paris
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin A. Colder
General-Major Aviateur P. de Groof, Brussels
Michel Guy, Pans
Pierre Hebey
Stephane Janssen, Beverly Hills
J. P.
Ledeur, Paris
Marion Lefebre
Joyce and Samir Mansour, Paris
Meridian Partners, Inc., New York

Mr. and Mrs. N. Richard Miller
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Mindhn
Jacques Putman, Paris
Mr. and Mrs. J. Karel P. van Stuijvenberg, Caracas
Baroness Van Zuylen
The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Museum Ludwig, Cologne

Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark
The State Museums of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
Lens Fine Art, Antwerp
Galerie Birch, Copenhagen
Galerie Maeght Lelong, Paris

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The trauma and the devastations of World War II that visited the
embattled European continent required complex adjustments in the
creative realm. While American painting, benefiting from a wave of
European emigration, experienced a marked invigoration, artists in
Europe were only gradually moving from destruction and occupation to
an uncertain peace. France, nonetheless, was expected to continue
leadership in the realm of high art.
Such expectations were fulfilled in part by the surviving Parisian demi-

gods who continued to be influential, as well as by an emerging gen-
eration of abstract painters nourished and encouraged by the rich
traditions of European modernism. But opposing tendencies, which
seemed radical and unaccommodating at the time, surfaced in short
order. Among these, the examples set by Jean Dubuffet in France and
by the Cobra artists in Denmark, Belgium and The Netherlands were
the most conspicuous. Pierre Alechinsky, surely one of the youngest
participants in the shortlived but influential Cobra movement, was even
then recognizable as standard bearer for the Belgians, marked as he was
by extraordinary talent and early achievement.
Cobra has long since been recognized as a meaningful chapter in the

history of modern art, and while, happily, a few of its original adherents
are still working vigorously, many others have left the scene. Pierre
Alechinsky today is, by general consensus, the most distinguished
among those who, having outlived Cobra, continue to assert valid and
emphatic contemporary leadership. Presenting Alechinsky at the height
of his powers, this exhibition thus becomes an acknowledgment of the

artist's stature and achievement. Although it deliberately eschews the
conventional retrospective format, it nevertheless takes in a broad range
of work.
The exhibition theme, Marginand Center, was formulated during ex-

tensive conversations that preceded selection, as we became aware of
the pervasive formal and iconographic presence of the two components
that comprise the exhibition's title. But in focusing upon it one should
bear in mind that this conspicuous device applies only to a small frac-
tion of the artist's total oeuvre and therefore appears magnified by its
isolation.
The contributors to the present catalogue, Michael Gibson and Octavio

Paz, as well as Pierre Alechinsky himself, to all of whom we express our
appreciation, have found words that allow the theme of the exhibition
to reach beyond its visual dimension. We acknowledge as well the par-
ticipation of Guggenheim Museum staff members on the project. The
artist's closest collaborator was Lisa Dennison, the Guggenheim's As-
sistant Curator, who was instrumental in selecting the exhibition and

deserves credit for staging it. The editing of the catalogue was the re-
sponsibility of Carol Fuerstein, Editor. Nina Nathan Schroeder, Cura-
torial Assistant, and Diana Murphy, Assistant Editor, were also
involved with many aspects of the exhibition and catalogue.
Pierre Alechinsky: Margin and Center has benefited from the financial
support of the Commissariat General aux Relations Internationales de
la Communaute Francaise de Belgique, Brussels, and the Association
Francaise d'Action Artistique, Paris. We greatly value the assistance of
these organizations. The exhibition is scheduled to tour in this country
and abroad and will be seen after the Guggenheim's initial showing at
the DesMoines Art Center, the Kunstverein Hannover e.V. and the
Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Art Moderne, Brussels.
Neither the original presentation nor the tour could have been arranged
without the generosity of many lenders whose names appear elsewhere
in this catalogue, unless they have requested anonymity. Our gratitude
is herewith conveyed to all of these individuals and institutions.
My final word of thanks is addressed to the artist, with whom I have

maintained a long and rewarding friendship.
Thomas M. Messer, Director

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Octavio Paz
Central Park
The Argument: Some say that, given the exterior world exists, one must
deny it; others say that, given the world does not exist, one must invent
it; and still others, that only the inner world exists. Pierre Alechinsky
turns his head and, saying nothing, paints a rectangle in which he en-
closes Central Park in New York, in the late afternoon, seen from the
window of his closed eyes. The rectangle surrounds the four sides of the
park, and is divided into irregular spaces, themselves rectangles, like the
boxes in a theater, the cells in a convent or the cages in a zoo. Inside
each box swarm bizarre creatures that are somehow vaguely familiar:
Are they they or us} Do we look at them, or are they looking at us? In-
side the rectangle, Central Park has been transformed into a green,
black and golden Cobra: Is it an anamorphosis of Alice, the Queen of
Diamonds in our sleepwalking deck? The painting is not a vision but a
spell.
Green and black thickets, bare spots,
leafy river knotting into itself:
it runs motionless through the leaden buildings
and there, where light turns to doubt
and stone wants to be shadow, it vanishes.
Don't cross Central Park at >iight.
Day falls, night flares up,
Alechinsky draws a magnetic rectan^
a trap of lines, a corral of ink:
inside there is a fallen beast,
two eyes and a twisting rage.
Do;? 7 cross Central Park at night.

There are no exits or entrances,
enclosed in a ring of light
the grass beast sleeps with eyes open,
the moon exhumes razors,
the water in the shadows has become green fire.
Don't cross Central Park at night.
There are no entrances but everyone,

in the middle of a phrase dangling from the telephone,
from the top of the fountain of silence or laughter,
from the glass cage of the eye that watches us,
everyone, all of us are falling in the mirror.
The mirror is made of stone and the stone now is shadow,

there are two eyes the color of anger,
a ring of cold, a belt of blood,
there is a wind that scatters the reflections
of Alice, dismembered in the pond.
Open your eyes: now you are inside yourself,
you sail in a boat of monosyllables
across the mirror-pond, you disembark
at the Cobra dock: it is a yellow taxi
that carries you to the land of flames
across Central Park at night.
Santander, 5 September 1986
LuedhvElmt Wc.nkmcr
Wmii
ugival, 1983
Pierre Alechinsky and Michael Gibson
Bordering on Something Central
michael GIBSON: Let's talk about your marginal com-

ments.
pierre alechinsky: I pass. No I don't after all. I'll trump with one of
Henri Matisse's remarks: "I always start from the frame."
M.G.: What do you make of that statement?
p.a.: Beyond the frame there is . . . well, all the rest! The roving hordes,
the outside world, so powerful when you compare it to a small rect-
angle of paper or canvas. I sense then how urgent it is, not only to con-
centrate on the composition of the rectangle itself, but also on that of its
frontiers, on the margins.
Progressively, as I produced my paintings with margins (I have been

painting such works episodically, ever since I did Central Park in 1965
[cat. no. 1]), I found myself stressing the rectangle, underscoring it even,
whether by means of a fringe of pictures around the center, or by
materializing a border.
M.G.: You did this with the idea of defining a separate

space in which a different order of event occurs. Right?
p.a.: And at the same time to annex the frame, to make it part of the pic-
ture, rather (let's say in passing) in the manner that an engraver uses a
border in his woodcut to prevent the roller from touching areas that
have been hollowed out. This is the sort of limitation that can turn out
to be an aesthetic advantage depending on the engraver's talent. I
started out as a printer and have made use of some of the craftsman's
I
notions, tricks or habits in my painting. Marginalia the form of in
notes, addenda, subtitles, summaries have existed ever since the in-
vention of the book. Proof corrections find their proper place in the
margin too; they indicate and countermand alongside the column of
15
type. Authors use the margin to modify the text on which they are
working. It can be quite spectacular at times. Lithographers use it to test
a tool and hand before setting to work. In doing so they trace
try their
minute and often charming preparatory sketches, which are erased be-
fore the actual printing, once the first test print has been run off. Some
rare proofs of this kind are occasionally to be found, described in print
and book collector's catalogues in such terms as: "... despite a few
rust spots, this is a fine proof of the first state with marginal com-
ments." A term I appropriated.
M.G.: Your own modus operandi also includes the as-

sembling and mounting on canvas of the work you ini-
tially painted on paper. This is at once an additional
business of composition and a manual task.
P. A.: Which invites a detour. It is a fortunate thing, really, that painting

should demand such a wide range of chores. One would be rather ill-ad-
vised to tackle literature head on! But the very act of painting requires a
whole ritual of mcantatory approach. It is this specific mixture, three
parts chores to one part creation, that yields a painting.
m.g.: Let's talk about the work that stands before us:
After Us, 1980 (cat. no. 46).
Bougival, 1983
16
p.a.: The center, both mineral and aquatic, says: color. The border com-
posed of black and white drawings confirms that the subject of the cen-
tral part is fall back into water. The
cascades and moving vapors that
viewer's eye is led movement, a cycle. The subject
on through a giratory
dealt with in the middle of the painting was less apparent: just a deluge
of blue .... This impelled me to add some clarifications outside the
field. And so I painted one rectangle after another, around the big one
in the middle, and then adding the comments within their individual
frames, each one with its own problems of composition [After Us).
M.G.: It might conceivably evoke the way a sixteenth-

century tapestry is organized
or even an oriental carpet.
p.a.:The image in itself is isolated and forsaken, therefore vulnerable.

From time to time it requires protection. The access border, the com-
mentaries reassure. The painting must stand alone in its struggle against
indifference. The viewer is soon enough inclined to turn his eyes to
other sights! The image is not always self-sufficient. It needs a specific
body of reference to catch and hold the passing glance.
M.G.: All this work of composition prompts the eye to

come and go.
p.a.: From the larger to the smaller. These paintings are intended to be
seen in two ways both from a distance and close-up. Just as I made
them: first the center, then the margins.
M.G.: First the center, yes. I suppose you allow yourself a

pause between the two?
P.A.: Once the center is done I grant myself a moment of respite. I float
around or turn to other tasks; the break can last several days, after
which I begin working on the border; but it can also last several weeks
or months. In exceptional cases, even several years. No schedule, no
deadline. No obligation either. Agoraphobia Square (cat. no. zo) (a
painting, done in 1966, that gives a good idea of where I stood after the
twenty years I had remained faithfully wedded to oil painting) waited
for three years before receiving, in acrylic at last, the developments on
its frame. In any event, I observe the center before venturing into the
margins. But, as you know, I have also painted and I still paint a lot of
images without- marginalia. Evidently they are not a necessity each and
every time.
17
M.G.: What is your understanding of the notion of
"spontaneity" which played such an important role in
the theories of the Cobra movement?
P.A.: Spontaneity was the rallying cry of Cobra in contrast to the "pure
psychic automatism" favored, no doubt with some extra charge of
idealism, by Andre Breton. This "purity" was dismantled by Asger Jorn
in an article published in Cobra in 1949: "Discours aux pingouins"
("Speech to the Penguins"). Did Jorn want to convince the armless

man? 1
The action of painting leads the painter to an awareness of the material

nature of his craft, much more so than a writer who is never sufficiently
conscious of the material act of writing, of the tracing of words. This
notion was significantly amplified by Christian Dotremont, who de-
2
rived his logograms from it. Marcel Havrenne' spoke of a poetry "in
which the script itself has its word to say." Both of them referred to the
impact of the physical act of writing on the imagination. Implicit in this
attitude is a mistrust of any idea that is too precise at the outset: it can
blind one to new ideas that might otherwise appear while work is in
progress. Everything significant occurs within this creative "mean-

while" (which is one of the mysteries of art). Before is irrelevant, we are
told. And after, we stand before a fait accompli, a definite result, defi-
nitely locked into its own moment in time, and which we call a painting.
M.c,.: So that, in this view, the term "spontaneity" refers

to a form of interaction between conception and execu-
tion, the manner in which the physical act of painting in-
flects the actual result. It implies a readiness to welcome
whatever may yet, quite unpredictably, occur. But I also
beyond the polemical slogan
notice, in actual tact,
"spontaneity," a manner of paradoxical tension: on the
one hand this openness, availability, "spontaneity," and
on the other a demanding attitude, an order, a disci-
pline. Spontaneity, in this sense, does not imply a sur-
render to mere impulse ....
1 Asger Jorn (19 14-7?). The French tirle of the article mentioned
here hinges on a remote allusion: a variety of penguins is known as
"manchot" (without hands) in French because their wings are reminis-

cent of arms without hands.
2 Christian Dotremont (1912-79). Belgian poet and artist, cofounder

of Cobra in 1948 and inventor of the acronym (COpenhagen-BRus-
sels-Amsterdam). For logograms, see Abrupt Fable and Seismographic
Armful (cat. nos. 38, 93), made in collaboration with Alechinsky.
3 Marcel Havrenne (1912-57). Belgian poet who belonged to Cobra.

WithD- Abrupt Fable, Brussels,
1976
pa.: The less demanding, the less visual person will indeed surrender-
the temptation is too great.
M.C.: And he will invoke spontaneity.
p.a.: As an extenuating circumstance!
M.G.: I bring this up because I gave the matter some

thought a few years ago, after a conversation I had with
Dotremont. It occurred to me then that there was an
abyss between what he actually meant by spontaneity
and the vulgar, unthinking meaning the term usually is
given. In Dotremont's case this "spontaneity" was
coupled with a considerable discipline. When he drew
his logogram he never allowed the idea of the text to
precede by any great length of time the actual act of set-
ting it down on paper. And not only that: if the result
did not satisfy him, he rarely made use of the same text a
second time but went on to invent another one. His
"spontaneity," consequently, was never devoid of self-
discipline, and his craft was the result of an interaction
between openness and stricture.
Bougii
P.A.: It's a strange thing: we create limits for ourselves. We invent a

game called "painting," governed by disciplines which, all told, are ex-
tremely demanding. The artist-legislator is also his own judge. He can-

not, however, easily lie to himself, to the extent that he can only feel
pleased or displeased by the line he has just drawn. So he has no other
choice but to strive after a perfection that cannot exist
"perfection is
death," said Jorn. And only in the long run can we measure the scope of
the disciplines we have imposed upon ourselves. Discipline! An ex-
travagant word to be coupled with such spacious freedom!
m.g.: As for the openness or availability we mentioned,

apparent
it is in the very act by which the line is
drawn.
p.a.: And which the eye trails.
M.G.: And this is why we can easily recognize a line

drawn by Alechinsky. Your draftsman's script, like your
handwriting, belongs to you alone. And your graphic
idiom can also be recognized in the choice of a certain
format, a way of "centering," of organizing the work as
a whole.
p.a.: This concern with composition is the result of a handicap I have. I
am left-handed. Educators ordered me to hold my pen in my right hand,

the awkward one, but fortunately allowed me to clutch a pencil or
brush in my left one. Painting and drawing, as you can see, do not enjoy
the same status as writing. I was soon aware of the flow that runs from
right to left instead of in the direction followed by a reader's eye. Yet
this is the direction in which a viewer surveys a painting. Consequently
the situation, as far as I am concerned, is must allow
the following: I a
free rein to my reverse dynamics, while making allowances for a few
features that will permit the viewer (myself included) to return to the
cursive flow derived from the act of reading. Hence my predilection for
the printer's shop, where I have spent so many hours looking into
Alice's mirror where all that has been reversed is again set right.
m.g.: So the eye runs in a set direction, not only when it
reads a text, but also when it takes in a picture.
p.a.: This direction is perceptible in the way the brush settles on the
paper, rests there and leaves it. Painters discover this if they are curious
enough to look at their painting in a mirror. On the other hand, being
quite accustomed to seeing our own features reversed, we dislike our-
selves in a photograph. A photograph is shocking to its subject.
m.g.: Have you, in any way, taken advantage of your

handicap?
P.A.: I would never have been so attentive to composition if I had the

blinding good fortune of being right-handed!
My own adventures with writing have made me aware of script in gen-
eral. I often view a painting as a mass of information. I discover the
hand and personality, hesitant or determined, sensitive or dreary, pre-
tentious, measured, captivating, precise, brutal, compassionate, refined,
open, flustered, sovereign, adorable, etc. All that, and much more be-
sides, is to be read in the lines of a painting.
m.g.: Do you perceive an affinity between your artistic
script and the Far Eastern technique of calligraphy?
pa.: Our perception of Far Eastern script doesn't go beyond its graphic
aspect. We don't understand what it is saying. But we discover a com-
parable graphic serpentine (our own manner of tying and untying a
line), if we take the trouble of holding a page we have written to the
light, and looking at it from behind, reversed, so that we can no longer
make out the written text. I sometimes write backwards with my left
hand. In 1955 1 traveled to Japan to study the calligraphers and film

them at work on sheets of paper laid out on the floor or placed flat on a
low table. In any event, I have chosen to use the same equipment and
have acquired a passionate love for paper.
But the precepts of a master must necessarily be disappointing. "What

should one do to become a great calligrapher?" And the immediate an-
swer is: "Sit upright and breathe properly." And Bonnard too, advising
a young painter, says no more than: "Always have a clean rag."
A calligrapher or a writer can get a kind of satisfaction from tracing an

entire sentence or text at one go. Their state of mind is different from
that of a painter who traces a form here or there on his canvas, then
stands back to judge the effect before continuing. The calligrapher does
not pause. He writes cursively and appreciates the formal beauty arising
out of his tool, his paper, the movement of his hand inflected by the
literary content. A painter does not transmit words; his drawings have
no connection with syntax.
M.G.: Have you noticed a change in your script as time

goes on?
P.A.: Indeed, a hand armed with a brush acquires practice, encounters

surprises and improves with time. A line that expresses at once the art-
ist's idea, his moments of hesitation, the shortcuts of his thoughts and
of his decisions, his energy with its phases of acceleration and of subsid-
ing pleases me more than any exaggeratedly neutral one.
M.G.: And all of this is apparent before us, here in a

broken line, or there in the hatchmarks that define a
frame.
P.A.: In vital chaffings, pauses, wrenches that are, one must hope, per-
ceptible, in the imprint of the brush that reveals the power of a forceful
gesture or the delicacy of a caress.
m.g.: What sort of brushes do you use?
pa.: Preferably goat hair mounted on bamboo. Wolf fur too. Though
the so-called wolf may well be no more than some unfortunate dog!
"Wolf" naturally sounds more impressive. In any event the manufactur-
ers of Far Eastern brushes claim that they are made of the hairs of this
noble and dangerous creature.
m.g.: such works as Chromatic Buoy (cat.

Looking at
no. 75), based on the rubbing of a circular bench, or
Street Pepper (cat. no. 81), based on rubbings of a cast-
iron manhole cover, a question comes to mind: Just
what kind of interest do you take in the symbolic value
of, say, the circle or the wheel?
p. A. : A painting can evoke different associations each time we look at

it and consequently different ideas. Dotremont said: "A painting is a
ventriloquist's doll." This leads us to the literary problem of choosing

titles.
When it comes to thinking up a title, the general impression, a detail,
some circumstance unrelated to pictorial matters can provide a clue.

Each unknown painting must provoke its own title. This explains why
the "entitling painter" has almost more experience than a writer. 1 have
had to find titles for several dozen drawings at a go. "Be more specific,
please," says the title to the painter.
I have published several books with the word "title" on the cover. The
matter obviously preoccupies me. I wrote Titres et pains perdus in
1965; then Le test du titre, in which I published the responses of sixty-

one personalities I had asked to think up titles for six of my drawings.
And finally Le bureau du titre, a sequence of titles presented without
any corresponding pictures, so that they might be savored on their own.
As for my titreurs d'elite,
4
many of whom are now dead (Rene Magritte,
Jean Paulhan, Francois Truffaut and so recently Joyce Mansour),
. . .
most of them, quite independently of one another, had found some sort
of common denominator. Much to my surprise!
4. This untranslatable pun combines the notion of tireur d'elite, a

sharpshooter, and titreur, a term coined by Alechinsky to signify a per-
son who finds a title for a painting. A titreur d'elite is consequently an
expert at inventing titles.
M.( , My question about symbolic or mythic content
was prompted by the fact that you quite recently chose
to produce a series of paintings dealing with circular
forms.
pa.: I've been involved with wheels for a long time, and making rub-
bings of them too. I even wrote a book entitled Roue libre for Albert
Skira in 1969. At that time I had not yet noticed the cast-iron manhole
covers in the streets, but I had painted Star and Disaster (cat. no. 19)
based on a pattern of concentric circles.
As far as content is concerned, there are obviously

M.G.:
... was about to say, "universal symbols." When
1
someone draws a circle he brings about, how shall put 1
it, a sort of . . .
p. a.: Statement.
M.G.: I was thinking more of a state of mind. We collect

ourselves, our thoughts or feelings, inside a circle with a
aware
certain degree of fascination. Stage directors are
Bou S lva1 I9 7 ^ w th P 01 "
of thisand make good use of the inclination. So there is ' '
11 , /-
some irony in the act 01 taking manhole covers and turn-

1
1
traits or Mickv and lorn
,
ing them into mandalas.
P.A.: Derision, yes, but marked with a touch of admiration. A distortion

of derision. My admiration for the anonymous work of the foundrymen
has its share in this. I have been attentive to the variety of decorative
motives on these cast-iron plates which the French administration refers
to as "pieces du mobilier urbaui." This leads me back to recollections of
childhood (rubbing a com with a pencil) or to Max Ernst (Max, that
lucid child). They are technically rubbings. As it happens, they are also
evocative both of childhood and of China.
Is it so unusual to pay attention to these covers shaped like mandalas? A

man walking, Jean Dubuffet once observed, is more inclined to look at
the ground than straight ahead. Gravity plays its part. I took those ex-
tremely heavy plates that communicate with the catacombs of New
York, out of whose infernal depths gray fumaroles arise, and turned
them into solar wheels: suspended gates of hell!
Other enigmatic forms have come my paintings. "Universal to squat in

symbols" am sometimes told, that also occur in sacred art. But in fact,
I
my own art is profane. am an atheist, and insistent upon this fact,

I
though I do feel an affinity for such things, and am always stirred, for
instance, by Johann Sebastian Bach's Saint Matthew Passion stirred,

but without hope. And hopelessly so.
M.G.: You keep your distance from content.
p.a.: It's more a matter of reserve.
M.G.: Of irony, perhaps, masking a modesty which in

turn masks a content?
P.A.: Long ago I elaborated a vocabulary made of images. I drew from

things laid out on my table next to the paper and the ink bottle ex-
ceedingly humble things (if you will forgive the pathetic fallacy, of at-
tributing an attitude such as modesty to pebbles, roots and orange
peels). And then, emerging from them, like sequences of free associa-
tions or like puns, I saw all my lady-loves appear, and also the feathered
headgear of the Gilles dancers of the Carnaval de Binche (suddenly so
close to those of -the Mayas), and volcanic eruptions, spirals, volutes,
the meanders of a river turning into a lane, a shoelace, a necessary

snake.
M.G.: About this matter of content, I would rather say
that we are dealing with a symbolic material inherent in
society itself, of which a highly elaborate and formalized
version is found
in the various religions. But this fund of
images is already present in the language we are taught,

in education and even in good manners. This thing we
call "culture" is a free and creative elaboration, by all
human societies, of a fund inherited from the animal

societies from which we are descended. (I have no use
for sociobiology, by the way, which Marshall Sahlins
has devastatingly criticized.) These societies also have
their symbolic order, as any ethologist can tell, rooted in
behavior. No society can function without it, but in our
own case it assumes much vaster proportions because it
takes the shape of a symbolic language which refers to

the meaning and value of all things.
This aspect can easily be neglected, no doubt because

our way of describing the world has favored the indi-
vidual self-perception, taking it in isolation and artifi-
cially placing it under glass. As Gavroche might have
said, it is, in a sense, la faute a Descartes for Descartes
(but Locke too), based his philosophy on individual self-
awareness and thus sent into eclipse those aspects of this
awareness which arose out of the prehuman collectivity,
although they are, in fact, quite as fundamental as the
individual aspect. This has always been so, of course,
because we inherited this social ground, with its basic
behavioral symbolism (which has been studied by Kon-
rad Lorenz, among others) from our prehuman ances-
tors. We inherited it as a basic pattern, but we also
elaborated it (and continue to elaborate it) in a way that
allows us to designate goals and values beyond the im-
mediate and tangible ones that alone concern animal
societies. And it is primarily this ordering of a society
and its goals (inevitably through symbolic terms) that
constitutes the material of culture. . . .
The collective order of culture has its inhuman aspect

because it often commands a blindly tribal assent, but it
is also that which, in an entirely positive sense, goes

beyond the individual and represents the things for
which the individual is willing to give all of himself, and
even his life if necessary. It consequently commands
both the most immoral and the most ethical forms of be-
havior. In the latter case, it refers us to the values that
give life a substantiality and a meaning. And all of these
z6
can ultimately be condensed into, and signified by an en-
tirely rudimentary symbol, a circle, for instance. It is far
too easy to treat such things as though they were mere
speculative theory. Yet when someone draws a circle be-
fore us,under certain (theatrical or religious) cir-
cumstances, it can call to mind something that has a
bearing on a community or a communion or again,
with negative implications, a casting of spells, a separa-
tion or, in a better sense yet, a reserved space, a "pas-
sage" towards transcendence, in other words towards
"what is not there" or "not yet there," though it is of
momentous importance to us: our life goal. And when a
person deals with forms, as you do, he is constantly
making use of such things, be it a circle, or a sequence of
images that suggest a narrative, even if the narrative, as
it happens in your work, has no definable content.
PA.: was recently showing a friend some paintings composed of rub-

I
bings, Chromatic Buoy among them. And he declared that the trace of
these cast-iron entities appeared more important than the objects them-
selves, in the same way the hollow imprint of a vanished fossil becomes
more affecting than the actual fossil. The fossil is gone, the trace re-
mains. The negative concept is more intense than the positive one.
Whereupon he began to talk about Tantrism. I replied that as soon as
we see a circle anywhere Tantrism will inevitably be mentioned.
Yet walking through the flea-market years ago I had, despite my own
fathomless unknowing, been drawn to a Tantric image which I found so
beautiful that I carried it home with me. Had it been hanging on my
studio wall for so long that no longer could see it? When people recog-
I
nize "universal symbols" in my work I sometimes recoil, as though the

association were undeserved. A reflex. As if to say: "I have nothing to
do with this."
m.g.: You are perhaps a bit wary of any interpretation

that might be suggestive of mysticism?
P.A.: The truth is that I enjoy coincidences. Nature and culture, in bits
and pieces, run through us with their symbols and obscurities, thus pro-
ducing various beneficial short-circuits.
m.g.: One might suppose that the "sacred symbols," at

the outset, refer to a form of experience that does not
necessarily derive from any set theory, nor any
dogma ....
2-7
P.A.: Looking at the Apocalypse tapestries in Angers I tell myself that in
those days would have enjoyed (illusion!) drawing clouds and

1
monsters as crude and elegant as those. recognize these same lines in

I
my own work. And when, for instance, depict a sort of fortress wall
I
from another age, I should not be surprised if others begin to think of

more specific subjects might not willingly touch upon myself, but
I
which appear according to the fancies of my brush ....

A painting is a revealing slip!
M.G.: Here is a painting that does not exactly have mar-

ginal comments. would be inclined to see a narrative
I
sequence, after the fashion of polyptychs ....
P.A.: One might well diagnose a hypertrophy of marginalia complicated

by a disappearance of the center.
M.G.: Your marginalia have, a bit too easily, been com-

pared to the comic-strip form. I would prefer to see an
affinity with the narrative idiom of the quattrocento
frescoes.
p.a.: If any comic-strip style did influence me, it was the black and white
variety of yesterday, or even before: the medieval woodcut or again the
Dreams and Lies of Franco by Pablo Picasso, the father of us all. An ad-
mission which should only make orphans sneer!
z8
I came some drawings and etchings of mine, done in 195 1 (in
across
and 1952 (in Paris), which seem to anticipate a sequential ar-
Brussels)
rangement of images. But how could I have foreseen the Unfolded
Newspapers (see cat. nos. 3-6, 8), very much like the marginalia of Cen-
tral Park, a painting begun in New York after having discovered the
Park from the and seen the paths, rocks and lawns turn,
thirtieth floor,
before my eyes, into the maw of a debonaire monster devouring yellow

cabs and pedestrians. "Don't cross Central Park at night?" As we
know! The painting, begun in New York, was finally completed in the
country, on the border of Normandy.

Frame by frame .... Death and the Maiden, 1967 (cat. no. 12), I
In
built a like those of an animated cartoon (the pre-
sequence of frames
della was an ancestor of the cartoon: the painter showed several scenes
or events connected with the main subject). In Circling the Matter (cat.
no. 13), done the same year, or in Past Unnoticed, 1981 (cat. no. 50), I
reproduced in the margins some details that appear in the center, details
that were enigmatic because of their very singularity. A repetition, with
amplifications, turns a singular image into a recognizable form. The
image calls for its double.
First the center was in color and the remarks generally in black and
white. Later on I reversed the process. The center would be in black and
white, in India ink, the margins in color. There were no more separate
frames but a single runway without visible beginning or end. This
changes the habits of composition.
M.G.: As The Sphinx's Repressed Laughter of 1982

in
(cat. The margins are done on paper sub-
no. 53).
sequently mounted on canvas. Do you always use the
same material?
P.A.: I vary the supports. In addition to paper from China, Japan,

Taiwan or Korea, I also use pages recovered from record books of past
centuries accountant's sheets, notarized documents, old bills Rus-
sian bonds, obsolete aerial navigation maps, etc., which calls to mind
the principle of the palimpsest. This recycling of old material gives me
the chance to find something touching: in the discovery of the everyday
preoccupations of a bygone age, preoccupations so similar to our own.
2-9

M.e..: We were discussing the interpretation of a painting

a while ago and you mentioned the "ventriloquist's
dummy." Does this metaphor imply that one should not
listen to what the dummy has to say?
P.A.: The definitions we add to an indefinite, indefinable yet to be de-

fined or already (momentarily) more or less identified image are derived
from daydreams, and each of us does not dream m same way every
the
tune. You cannot bathe twice in the same image. Rather, it is the bather
who changes but let's not go into that.
There is a tree, a quasi-landscape. Great lava flows, a mask in profile, a
torso wrapped in bandages. Have I sufficiently respected, sufficiently

clarified the intent of the line? Working in the labyrinth, clutched theI
thread which (as 1 perceived it) would lead me to the plausible dome of
a skull, or a slow spilling over of lava or of molten iron. Walkway is the
title that occurred to me after having finished the border of a painting
that reminded me of a suspended walkway. This refers to a twofold

reminiscence: one, a visit to the Pont-a-Mousson Foundry in Lorraine,
and two, the viewing of Fellini's E la nave va. Micky and had been
I to a
dinner party and there we stood, both of us rather ridiculously over-
dressed, on the walkway beside a foundry Director in a double-breasted
suit, like the tourists in the movie looking down on the engine room
on the inferno. (I had gone to Pont-a-Mousson in the hopes of finding

some nineteenth-century manhole covers, but in a foundry every scrap
of metal is melted down again.) This is merely intended to suggest
where a painting's title may be found, and by what devious ways.
Another day, might only have distinguished a tree: Tree or Walkway,
I
one or the other can nonetheless impel one to say: "What do you know,
a myth!"
Bougival-Paris, September 1986
Bougival,
3Pm
Works in the Exhibition
Unless otherwise noted, marginal drawings surround the central image on four sides.
4^ <^?<^/L<.tzZ5iscz>
33
Detail, marginal drawing for Central Park
M
Central Park, j 965
Acrylic with marginal drawings in India ink on paper mounted on 1
6} Ax
3
76" (162 x 193 cm)
Collection of the artist
Detail, marginal drawing for Central Park
36
z. All in One Breath {he tout venant). 1966
India ink on paper, 2.4V2 x 35V2' (62.5 x 90 cm)
Collection Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Gift of the artist
37
Unfolded Newspaper {Journal dephe). i960
India ink and wax crayon on paper, 24 x 55'/;" (62 x 90 cm)
Collection Jerome and Marlene Brody
Unfolded Newspaper (Journal deplie). 1966

India ink on paper, 2.4 '/ x 35 'At. " (62 x 89 cm)
Private Collection
38
5. Unfolded Newspaper (Journal deplie). 1966
India ink on paper, Vs x 35V16 " x 89 cm)
2.4 (62.
Private Collection
6. Unfolded Newspaper (Journal deplie). 1966

India ink on paper, 18 'A x 34W (46 x 88 cm)
Private Collection
39
After Malevich (Apres Malevitch). 1966
Acrylic with marginal drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas,
55V2X 54" (141 x 137 cm)
Collection Stephane Janssen, Beverly Hills
SITO!
pis Jllypl
glpia
*2 i -
"$
P
Unfolded Newspaper (Journal deplie). 1967
India ink on paper, i3 3/s x 24" (34 x 61 cm)

41
Under Hire (Sous le feu). 1967
Acrylic with predella drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas,
3
95 \ j8 A" (114 x 199 cm)
l ollection Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Cieorges Pompidou, Pans. Purchase of the State
vanJmmm
0M'K
io. Drastic Cut (Coupe sombre). 1967
Acrylic with marginal drawings at left and right in India ink on paper mounted 1
3
39 /s x 96" (100 x 244 cm)
Collection Museum Ludwig, Cologne
i
ABornMother Fibre maternelle). 1967
Acrylic with marginal drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas
63V1X $i s "(i6ix 130cm)
Collection Mr. and Mrs. Melvin A. Golder
mm
i-sfjBjaef^',
[ z. Death and the Maiden (La jenne fille et la mort). 1967
54 x 54" (137 x 137 cm)
Collection Marion Lefebre
45
5 ( 'tiding the Matter (he tour de sujet). 1967-68
mounted on canvas with marginal drawings
Acrylic on paper in India ink on paper
mounted on wood, 8z 3Ax 142." (2.10 x 360 cm)
I'm iii 1. ollection, France
46
mm: '
im
[_t Sources of Information (Sources d' information). 1968
Ink on paper, 38V* x z6 5/s" (98 x 66.7 cm)
Private Collection
4X
[5. Sources of Information (Sources d' information) l6. Sources of Information (Sources J' 111 formation). 15
Ink on paper, 38V8 x 2.6%" (98 x 66.7 cm) Ink on paper, 38VS x z6 5/s" (98 x 66.7 cm)
Private Collection Private Collection
49
[7 Sources of Information (Son [8. Sources of Information (Sources a" information).
Ink on paper, 38% x 26 V" ( Ink on paper, 38V8 x z6 s/s" (98 x 66.7 cm)
SO
[9 Star and Disaster (Astre et desastre). 1969
Acrylic with predella drawings in India ink on silver paper mounted on canvas,
61 x 61" (155 x t55 cm)
Collection Baroness Van Zuylen
51
z.0. Agoraphobia Square (Le carre des agoraphobes). 1966 and 1970
Oil on canvas (1966) with marginal drawings in India ink and acrylic mounted on paper
mounted on wood (1970), 54 x 55'/:" (137 x 141 cm)
Collection Joyce and Samir Mansour, Paris
5 2
2i. Tooth and Nail (Toutes griffes dehors). 1970
Acrylic with predella drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas,
72% x 90%" (184x230 cm)
Collection Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark
53
Gone Up in Smoke (Parti en fumeej. 19-
53V2X 54" (136 x 137 cm)
Collection Pierre Hebey
5A
-3. So Many Windows (Autant de fenetres). 1971
Watercolor on paper mounted on canvas, ii5 3/4 x 156" (2.94 x 396 em)
'
1 '
'
'"WXn
W0Wmw
iv -' - ..
l
4 Boreality Borealite). m-i
Acrylic with marginal drawings in watercolor on paper mounted on canvas, 54 x ft 1
'
' \"
(137 x r 57 cm)
C ollectum Guy Georges, Paris
>
,
'''^\h ^^h,
3aE
> a.
56
-5- Aztec Volcano (Volcan azteque). 1971
Acrylic with marginal drawings in watercolor on paper mounted on canvas,
61V4 x 79V2" (155.6 x zoz cm)
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. Gift, Enrico and Fiorella Chian, Venice, 19.S4
84-3*53
57
i6 Bird's-Eye View (Tour d' horizon). 1971
India ink on paper mounted on canvas with marginal drawings in India ink and acr
on old manuscripts, iuS'kx 153 V2" (300 x 390 cm)
Collection The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; The Henry L. Hillman Fund,
58
27. Delft Blue (Le bleu de Delft). 1972
Acrylic with predella drawings in v color on paper mounted on canvas,
/S 3A x ri8Vs" (200 x 300 cm)
Private Collection; on loan to Loui 1 Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
5")
iS Scj Sickness (i\Lil Jc mer). 19-2
India ink on paper mounted on canvas, 59 1
/: x 39" (151 x 99 1
(. iilkxtiiin ot the artist
60
19 The Blue Tree (L'arbre bleu). 197^1
Acrylic with acrylic predella on paper mounted on canvas, 71 x 61" (180 x 154 cm)
Collection Michel Fribourg, New York
6l
}o Redeemed Share (Action de jonissance). 1975
Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas with marginal drawings in Indi documents,
94V2 x iog'/x" (204 x 277 cm)
Collection Lens Fine Art, Antwerp
<r ;~,
s^^k , .
;
Ikil
si mEt-
Ou BctI ^
^3 / **
3i. Come from Afar {Menu de loin). 1975
Acrylic with predeila drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas,
78 3/4 x nS'/s" (zoo x 300 cm)
63
j2 The Sound of the Fall (Le bruit de la chute). 1975
Acrylic with predella drawings 111 India ink on paper mounted on canvas,
59 x 60 4" (151 x 53 cm)
1
( ollection Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
64
33- Bouches du Rhone Suite (Suite des Bouches du Rhone). 34. Bouches du Rhone Suite (Suite des Bouches du Rhone).
India ink on paper, 84V4 x 36V4" (215 x 92 cm) India ink on paper, 84% x 36V4' (215 x 92 cm)
65
35 Bouches du Rhone Suite (Suite des Bouches du Rhone). 1976 Bouches du Rhone Suite (Suite des Bouches du Rhone). 1976
India ink on paper, 84 'A x 36 A"
l
x 91 cm)
(2.1 5 India ink on paper, 84V4 x 36V4" (215 x 92 cm)
L ,J?
37- Bouches du Rhone Suite (Suite des Bouches du Rhone). 1976
India ink on paper, 84V4 x 36V4" (215 x 92 cm)
Private Collection
L^f^
67
Abrupt Falile (Abrupte fable). 1976
India ink and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas folding screen with logogram
3
by Christian Dotremont, iii / x 187" (284 x 475 cm)
(. ol lection of the artist
5^7
68
abrupte fable
d'etre d'herbe de verbe de sable de flots
a serpentements d'orage
tendre de fruit
a cheminements presque terrestres
a traces de presque pas
a presque rien d'avant
a developpements
en roue d'oiseau-lyre
a brusquement voter
de nuances ensemble
a la nuit d'un nuage
dore jusqu'au soleil
a depliures de cri
a bruissements de jour
a regards de chant
abrupt fable
of being of grass of words of sand of wave
of snakestorms
delicacy of fruit
pathways almost terrestrial
footprints of almost not

almost nothing of before
developments
fanned-out lyrebird style
suddenly flying
light and shade together
by cloudnight
golden through to sun
with cry's un foldings
with day's rustlings
with the gaze of song
(Translated by Michael Fineberg)
69
39. Fall (Chute). 1977
Acrylic with acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas, 41 x 25 ',
Private Collection, Paris

40. Sky Square (Carre de ciel). 1978
Acrylic with predella drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas, 44V2 x 39V2" (113 x 100 cm)
C oik-ction Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Mindhn
Depict, Describe (Depeindre, decrire). 1979
Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas with acrylic marginalia on old manuscripts,
3
59 x 78 /" ( 1 50 x 2.00 cm)
Private Collection
73
/ Am /.;; (Jc suis loin). 1979
Acrylic with acrylic predella on paper mounted on canvas, 50 x 36W (1 27 x 92 cm)
Private Collection
43- In Octavo. 1979
Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 25V2 x 38" (65 x 96.5 cm)
Collection Marion Lefehre
75
44 Bedtime (Coucher). 1980
Acrylic with acrylic marginalia on paper mounted 1
5,36x43 (90 x110 cm)
Collection Meridian Partners, Inc., New York
76
f5 Awaking (Reveil). 1980
Acrylic with acrylic marginalia on paper mounted on canvas, 36 x 43" (90 x no cm)
Collection Meridian Partners, Inc., New York
46 After Us (Apres nous). [980
61 x 88'/2" (155 x 22s cm)
-V
78
47- Legible Athens (Athenes en lecture).
1980
India ink on map mounted on canvas with acrylic predella on paper, 55V2 x 87" (141 x 111 cm)
48 Codex. 1 98
Acrylic with ac ic border on paper mounted on canvas, 60V2 x 118" (153.5 x 3 cm )
Collection Sole on R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift, Mr. Jerome Brody, 1985
85 ?i8o
80
%<). Unlimited Responsibility (Responsabilite illimitee). 1981
Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas with predella drawings in India ink on documents,
6o 5/s 5
x 6o /s" (154 x 154 cm)
Courtesy Galerie Maeght Lelong, Paris
50. Past Unnoticed (Le passe inapercu). 1981
102 Vs x 185" (zo6 x 470 cm)
Collection Mr. and Mrs. N. Richard Miller
3
The Break (La faille . 198]
\^r\ Ik (in paper mounted on canvas with marginal drawings in India ink on maps
-
i i x 94' z" (185 x 140 cm)
Collection The State Museums of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
84
52. A Taste of the Abyss (Le gout de gouffre). 1980-82
Acrylic with border drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas,
60V4 x 94V2" (153 x 240 cm)
85
5 3 The Sphinx 's Repressed Laughter (Le reprime ricanement du Sphinx) .1982
India ink with acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas, 73 A
l
x 1 11'A" (186 x 286 cm)
86
54- The Dog King (Le chien rot). 1982
India ink with acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas, 81V2 x 81V2" (207 x 207 cm)
87
55 Exquisite Words (Mots exquis). 1981
India ink on map with predella drawings in India ink on paper, 52 51V2" (134 x 131 cm)
Collection General-Ma|or Aviateur P. de Groof, Brussels
56. Icy Eye f(
)eil de glace). 1982
7
India ink with marginal drawings in India ink on map, 42 /s x 57V2" (109 x 146 cm)
^
pp. 90-91 57. Geographic Theater (Theatre gcographiquc). 1983
Acrylic and India ink with marginal drawings in acrylic and India ink on map,
10- x 191 VV (2.72 x 487 cm)
Private Collection
58. Gust of Wind (Bourrasque). 1981-83
India ink with acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas, io9 7/s x 193V4" (279 x 492 cm)
Private Collection
93
59 Three-Leaf Clover (Trifle a trots feuilles). 1983
India ink with acrylic border mounted on canvas, 39 Vs x 59" (100 x 1 50 cm)
Private Collection
94
6o. Power of the Tree (Jeu d'arbre). 1983
India ink on paper mounted on canvas with acrylic marginali, i paper mounted on wood,
71V4 x 87" (182 x zzi cm)
Courtesy Galene Maeght Lelong, Paris
95
(M Clearing (Clairien
7
India ink with acr tier on paper moun 70 /s x i i - !
4" ( 1 So x 3 50 cm)
Collection Norm.! i m.i Br; iiii.ni
96
62 BnJgchi\hl : I etc Jc punt). 1983
India ink and acrylic with acrylic border on map mounted on canvas,
15V2X 40V2" (65 x 103 cm)
Collection Mr. and Mrs. Michel David-Weill, New York
6}. Surprise Journey (Voyage surprise). 1983
Acrylic on map with acrylic predella on paper, 36Y8 x 35V2" (93 x 90 cm)
Collection J. P. Ledeur, Paris
99
64 Cardinal Forest (Foret cardinale). 1981-84
34V16X 73 /4"(8 7 x 186 cm)
1
Private Collection
65. Little Snail (Petit escargot). 1984
India ink with acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas,
98 3A x 137V4" (250 x 350 cm)
66 Occupied Window (Fenetre occupee). i
India ink w ith acrylic border on paper i
21 '
-. \ I-
1
j"
s4 \ 44 cm
Private Collection
Green Cold (Or vert). 1984

India ink with acrylic horde paper mounted on canvas,
2.C 8 x 20" (60 x 51 cm)
Private C ollection
68 ( )rifice. 1984
23 Vs x 20" (60 x 5 1 cm)
Private Collection
69 Later (Plus tard). 1984

21 'a x 1- 1
4" (54 x 44 cm)
Private Collection
70. Mineral Victory (Victoire minerale). 1984

s
23 /s x 20" (60 x 5 1 cm)
Private Collection
71. Wheel of Earth and of Shadow (Roue de terre et d'ombre). 1984

on paper mounted on canvas,
India ink with acrylic border
23 Vs x 20" (60 x 51 cm)
Private Collection
ig^-~***msm*
AM ii^
103
7i Principal Wheel (Roue principal) 1984 .
India ink with acrylic border on papermounted on <
61V16 x 45" 1.," (1 56 x 116 cm)

Collection Michel Guy, Pans
104
73. On the Porch (Sur le perron). 1984
India ink with acrylic border on papei ;d on canvas, 39 3/s x 39 3/s" (100 x 100 cm)
Private Collection
105
-4 Fireflies (Lueitiles). 1984
India ink with acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas, ji'/x 14WU85 x 284 cm)
Courtesy Galene Birch, Copenhagen
106
75- Chromatic Buoy (Bouee chromatique). 1984
Acrylic and India ink with rubbing and acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas,
79 x 79" (200 x 200 cm)
107
-(> Quadrillage. i M.S4
India ink with rubbing and acrylic border on paper mounted on canva
13
74 /i6 x 38'/V (190 x 97 cm)
Private Collection
77- Box and Skull (Boite et crane). 1985
Collection Mr. and Mrs. Melvin A. Colder
109
78. The Forgotten Wool (La Lime oubliee). 1978-85
Acrylic with acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas,
85 x 6 ' 4 " (216 X
^ cm)
92
Private Collection
1978-85
79- Blue Criterion (Critere bleu).
on paper mounted on canvas with marginal drawings
Acrylic in India ink on paper
mounted on wood, 81 x 59%" (268 x 152 cm)
Private Collection
8o. Soles' Rose Window (Rosace des semelles). 1985 Street Pepper d'nwre des rues). 1985
India ink with rubbing and acrylic border in India ink on India ink with rubbing and acrylic border on paper
paper mounted on canvas, 74

1
Vit. x 38 Vk," (190 x 97 cm) mounted on canvas, 74 "/if, x 3 8 Vi
f,"
{190 x 97 cm)
Jz. Mill Wheel (Meule). 1985
Acrylic and India ink on paper w th rubbing and prcdella drawings in India ink on paper,
io6 5 /i 6 x 114'/)" (270 x 290 cm)
Private Collection
113
;, Stirring Water (Remuement d'eau). 19S5
Acrylic and India ink with rubbing and acrylic border on paper mounted on canvas,
78% \ -S'V (200 x 200 cm)
Collection Mr. and Mrs. J. Karel P. van Stuijvenberg, Caracas
84. The End of the Tunnel (he bout de tunnel). 1986
Collection Jacques Putman, Paris
**&~û0P*'*4>> ******
115
85 Harpsichord {Clavecin). 198ft
Manufactured by Von Nagel, Paris, 1
986
In collaboration with Jm Kolaf: outside of lid, stand base, music st; id, lid prop
India ink and acrylic on paper mounted on harpsichord, 32I/2 x 93 \ x 36"/,." (81.5
Collection ot the artist
Il6
86 The Days Are Getting Longer (Les jours rallongent). 1986
Acrylic with marginal drawings in India ink on paper mounted on canvas, 106V4 x i96 7/s" (270 x 500 cm)
Courtesy Galerie Maeght Lelong, Pans
Vocabulary (Vocabulaire). 1986
Temporary decorations for 4 Guggenheim Museum eleva
acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 8 vertical elements, each 1 10
4 lintels, each 32."/i6 x 74" (83 x 188 cm)
mm wm
I2 3
p
f
jmmmmm ;
? ^mmm
fjAffll
i^rm
if SI
In print shop, Paris, during production
of Ting's It Life, 1964
125
PRINTS
126
Roots {Racines). 1952
From Hayterophilies, 195253, album containing 1 1 etchings
Etching, i4 7/s x zi7s" (37.7 x 55.7 cm)
9/30
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Anonymous Gift
86.3345.2
127
89 The* at's Walk Promenade du chat). 1961
Etching, [2x13 io.5 x 33.5 cm
S JO
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift of the ,
86 5346
128
90. Remarks Renuraues). 196063
Lithograph, 19% x 14W (50 x 36 cm)
55^5
86.3350
91 Exprmntl Film. 1967
Lithograph, 3 1 *A x Z3 W (80.5 x 59 cm)
86 5356
filmexprmntlfilm
CASINO KNOKKE
25X11-1967 2-1-1968
02.13.41.55 050.614.71
92. Mrs. Felicity Milici (Madame Mtlici Felicite). 1971
Lithograph, 2.$Vi x 19" (65.5 x 48. 2. cm)
3/15
86.3367
93- Seismographic Armful (Brassee sismographique). 1971
Lithograph with logogram by Christian Dotremont, 33V2 x 14 Vis" (85.1 x 61 1 cm)
86 3370
brassee sismographique de gouffre seismographic armful of emptiness
au fur et a demesure de nuit nightwise nightcrazy as and when
a caresses de cohere d'encre with caresses of ink and anger
a va-et-vient de caprices de montee come and go go as you flow upward
stnante de roche streaking rockpath
de stratigraphie de souffles of breath stratigraphy
vers le haut d'astres upward and starward
de matin brusquement cree reel into morning created suddenly there
mais de toutes progressions de toutes couleurs but from all progressions all colors
survenantes de toutes formes soulevees arising from all forms arisen
de source encore se demultipliant de surgir from origin still gearing down from surging
abruptement mats de'ja vers le jour sc multipliant de vivt abruptly but already toward the day gearing up from living
de visage en vision from face to vision
de soleil en perle de serpentement en fete from sun to pearl snakeloops to celebration
de nature d'herbe en gerbe de volcan grass nature to volcanic sheaf
en roseaux jusqu'a I'ocean si pimpant d'un ciel in reeds all the way to the ocean so spick and span from a sky
en elancement de terre jusqu'au cri si vivace d'un arbre soaring up from earth all the way to a tree's cry
et deja pourtant menace d'une forme de mort perennial and yet already threatened by a form of death
que la vie meme refuse that life itself rejects
par une nuit nouvelle by a new night

vers le haut du meme gouffre to the highest reach of the same emptiness
non moins peuple de fables no less peopled with fables
vivaces a meme tout desespoir de source hardy m the midst of despair of origin of condition
de condition de vivre et quotidiennement revivre of living daily reliving
vers le matin revenant reel cree toward the morning created returning real
vers le premier cri a resurgir toward the first cry to arise
a meme toutes formes et toutes couleurs in the midst of all forms all colors
si ardentes toujours so ardent still
qu'elles nous jettent a devenir they launch us into becoming
(Translated by Michael Fineherg)

g4 Mud Soiree Soiree Mini). 19-4 95. Exprmntl Film. 1974
Occasioned by Mini's Sotli birthday celebration, ( )ngmal offset print, ii'.sx n 1
/ (-9 x s9 cm)
given by Anne Maeght, Pans Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Lithographic print on cheesecloth, i6'sx 6 2" X41C Anonymous Gift
1 '
(4 1
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. 86.3375

Anonymous Gift
86 5374
134
96. Direct Line (Ligne directe). 1976
Etching, 20 3/s x 30" (51.8 x 76.2 cm)
9/12
86.3383
135
i)- Aijii.: Fortis (L'eau forte). [976
\ %-" (62 S \
;
Etching, 14 4 94 cm)
Artist's proof, 9 1 1
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift of the artist
86.3384
I 3 6
98. Watchman's Path (Chemin de ronde). 1977
Linocut and lithograph, 24' Vk, x }6'/i" (63 x 92.7 cm)
137/150
86.3387
137
Recycled Papers (Papiers traites). 1978
Paper folder containing title page and 6 lithographs
Folder, z6 3A x 2.0 'V (68 x 52.. 4 cm); title page and lithographs, each 2.6' x x xd'ht" (67 x 52 cm)
56/99
86 .3389.1-.
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5 5
i 39
ioo Around the Falls (Autour des chutes), i
979
Etching and pochoir, 13 Vs x 58 3/<t" (59.4 x 98.4 cm)
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift of the ar

86 539]
m&m&Kj
[40
ioi. Square by Square (Case par case). 1980
Etching, 67V4 x }6" (170x91.4 cm)
28/35
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift of the
86.3393
ioz Scrambled Ephemerides (I phemerides brouillees). 198c
Etching, 73 1
4 \ 36V2" (186 1 x 91 8 cm)
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift of the artist
86.3394

^^F^^^^W^ÎTTî
103. With Michel Portal (Avec Michel Portal). 1980 104. Predator (Predateur). 1982
Lithograph, 14V16 x 12%" (36.7 x 32.5 cm) Lithograph and etching, 3 6 Vk x 25 Vz" (917 x647 cm)
9/10 105/120
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Anonymous Gift Anonymous Gift
86.3396 86.3398
V' V v v v^V
J 43
105. Jazz. [984
Lithograph, 59 '
-1 x 39 ' V ( 1 54 x 99 7 cm)
14/50
86 3399
io6. Water (Eau). 198185
Color lithograph, Z9 3/s x 2i 5/s" (74.2 x 55 cm)
Presentation proof, 1/150
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Complete edition, Gift in honor of the artist
84.3439
145
Water to the Skylight (L'eau a la lucarne). 1985
Lithograph, 63 x 47' V (160 x 1198 cm)
24/16
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Gift of the ai
86.3403
46
Wheel of Writing (Roue d'ecriture). 1985
In collaboration with Michel Butor: facsimile of manuscript

Etching and pochoir with stamp cancelled with date of first issue, z6 x 19V4" [66 x 50 cm)
70/90
86.3402
"1
Ir J
147
Noel Arnaud, Alechinsky, Jorn, Ezio
Gribaudo and printers, printshop,
Fratelli Pozzo, Turin, 1968
CHRONOLOGY
1927
Born October 19 in Brussels to a Russian naturalized
Belgian father and a Walloon mother. Both parents were
doctors.
1944
Enters Ecole N Superieure d'Architecture et des
Arts Decoratifs, La Camb: els; studies book illus-
tration and typography.
1946
Reads and wanders.
First attempts at oil painting.
Attends first Carnaval de Binche, held in Hainaut, Bel-

gium, since World War II; he later draws inspiration
from this popular festival.
1947
Joins Jeune Peinture Beige group.
First one-man exhibition in Brussels, at Galerie Lou Cosyn

First etchings.
Trips to Morocco and Yugoslavia.
1948
Meets Michele Dendal (Micky).

First lithographs.
Pierre and Micky Alechinsky, Dotre-
Stay in Pans.
mont, Corneille and Doucet, Cobra
1949 exhibition, Stedeh|k Museum, Amste
Meets Christian Dotremont in March in Brussels and dam, 1949
joins the group Cobra (COpenhagen-BRussels-Amster-
dam). With sculptors Olivier Strebelle and Reinhoud
and graphic artist Michel Olyff establishes a community
house, Les Ateliers du Marais, which becomes Centre de
Recherche Cobra. Through this center will pass Karel
Appel, Atlan, Pol Bury, Hugo Claus, Constant, Cor-
Jan Cox, Oscar Dominguez, Peggy Guggenheim,
neille,
Edouard Jaguer, Asger Jorn, Willem Sandberg, Raoul

Ubac, Curt Valentin and others.
Marries Micky.
1950
Helene Jacquet Prize, La Louviere, Belgium.
Jeune Peinture Beige Prize (ex-aequo).
Lithographs for Derriere le Miroir, no. 32, Maeght, Paris.
Cobra moves: Appel and Corneille leave Amsterdam for

Paris; Jorn leaves Copenhagen for Suresnes near Paris.
Trip to Scandinavia.
149
1951
Dotremont and Jorn are hospitalized in Denmark for

pulmonary tuberculosis.
Organizes Cobra exhibition, at Palais des Beaux-
last
Arts, Liege, and publishes "Abstraction faite" in tenth

and final issue of review Cobra.
Cobra movement dissolves.
Receives French Government scholarship.
Leaves Brussels to settle in Paris.
1952
Studies engraving with Stanley William Hayter at Atelier
17, Paris.
Corresponds with calligrapher Shiryu Morita, director

of review Bokubi (The Beauty of Ink) in Kyoto. Fre-
quently visits studio of Alberto Giacometti, whom he
has known since 1950. Art writer Jacques Putman, a
longtime friend, introduces him to Bram van Velde.
Draws from nature at Tourettes-sur-Loup (Alpes-

Mantimes): bamboo roots, branches and pebbles.
Birth of Ivan.
Joins organizing committee of Salon Octobre, Paris, which

includes Charles Estienne, Jean Messagier and others.
Jaguer entrusts him with technical direction of first issue

of Phases.
Draws "the writings of the tide" at Nieuport, Belgium.

With American sculptor Shinkichi Tajiri shows at
Kunsthandel Martinet, Amsterdam; catalogue preface
by Dotremont: L'arbre el I'arme.
1954
First one-man exhibition in Paris, at Galene Nina Daus-
set: Victor Brauner, Michel Butor, Max Ernst, Sam
Francis, Jacques Herold, Matta, Henri Michaux and
Jean Paulhan attend; catalogue preface by Dotremont:
"Language gets bogged down in Assemblies, colors in
Schools, but the poet speaks the pure meaning, and so
does the painter; I am thinking of Alechinsky. There is
something quite rare about this guy. He does not believe

that painting is any closer to life if it moves away from
painting itself."
Writes "Au-dela de l'ecriture" for Phases, no. z.
Meets Walasse Ting, who urges him to visit the Far East.
Paints Ant Hill, which James Johnson Sweeney will ac-

quire for Guggenheim Museum in 1957.
1955 With Micky and cameraman Franci

Haar, Kyoto, 1955
Jorn, who is resettling in Paris, stays with him.
Embarks for Japan with Micky in September: Marseille,

Port-Said, Djibouti, Colombo, Singapore, Saigon, Ma-
nila, Hong Kong, Yokohama.
150
1956 Alechinsky, Davie, C. H. Pedersen and David Smith are
given one-man exhibitions at Pittsburgh International,
Dotremont organizes first "Cobra after Cobra" exhibi-
Carnegie Institute.
tion, at Galerie Taptoe, Brussels.
Les tireurs de langue: title and illustrations for short
Opening of his film Calligraphie japonaise with Morita
stones of Amos Kenan, and paintings, drawings and
and Toko Shinoda, shot the preceding year in Tokyo
prints on the theme.
and Kyoto (text by Dotremont, narrated by Roger Bhn,
music by Andre Souris and produced by Pierre Braun- First one-man exhibition in a museum, Stedehjk
berger). Museum, Amsterdam; catalogue preface by Putman:
"Aggressively. Because to be aggressive is to be absent,
1957
and to be absent is to feel; and to feel is...."
Special Citation for Calligraphie japonaise at Interna-

First one-man exhibition in Munich, at Galerie van de Loo.
tional Festival of Art Films, Bergamo, Italy.
1962
At Henri Langlois's request, executes mural for Cine-
matheque francaise, Paris. First one-man exhibition in New York, at Lefebre Gallery.
First large inks on crumpled paper mounted on canvas. With Dotremont, series of "drawing-words." With Ting,
the Alechings, "paintings for four hands."
Collaborates on Andre Balthazar's and Pol Bury's re-
view Daily Bui (La Louviere). Sends several pages on lost calligraphy to Paulhan, who
publishes them in La Nouvelle Revue Francaise (N.R.F.,
1958
no. 119).
Becomes member of organizing committee of Salon de
1963
Mai, Paris.
Andre Breton visits his studio. He had written to him
Joins Galerie de France, Paris, directed by Gildo Caputo
earlier: "That which I savor most in art is that which
and Myriam Prevot-Douatte.
you command, that power to entwine curves, that
Birth of Nicolas. clearly organic rhythm, that happy feminine submission
which you obtain from color, from light."
1959
Sam Hunter includes him, together with Corneille,
He and Jorn exchange work; Jorn donates prints, ink
drawings and paintings he obtains to his Silkeborg
Cesar, Eduardo Chillida, Alan Davie, Jean Degottex,
Roel D'Haese, Jorn, Robert Miiller, Antonio Saura and
Museum, Denmark.
Antoni Tapies, in European Art Today, at The Min- Meets Joyce Mansour, many of whose books and poems
neapolis Institute of Arts. he willillustrate: Le Bleu des fonds, Astres et desastres,
Le Grand jamais, etc.
At invitation of Jorn and Paolo Marinotti participates in
Vitalita nell'arte at Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Paints large Meets Peter Bramsen, who soon becomes the printer of
canvases, including Vanish, gift of Julian and Jean Aber- almost all his lithographs at Ateliers Clot, Bramsen and
bach to Guggenheim Museum in 1967. Georges, Paris.
1960 First one-man exhibition of prints in Paris, at Galerie-

Librairie La Hune.
Hallmark Prize, New York, for his painting Homage to
Ensor, i960. Settles in Bougival, near Paris.
John Lefebre opens a gallery in New York and shows 1964

Cobra i<)6o.
First one-man exhibition in Copenhagen, at Galerie
Installs and shares studios with Reinhoud in former vil- Birch, and in Amsterdam, at Galerie Espace.
lage school in La Bosse (Oise), France.
Paints his largest oil to date, The Last Day, acquired by
Draws after nature: orange peels (see Guggenheim In- Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, in
ternational Award, exh. cat., New York, 1964, pp. 98, 100).
1961 With other artists contributes illustrations to Ting's

book 1 ( Life, a project that brings together the protag-
Citation of Honor for Calligraphic japonaise at Cultural
onists of Cobra and Pop Art, among other movements.
Film Festival, Tokyo.
Classifies the 411 letters Dotremont had written him
First trip to New York. He works in the Chelsea Hotel, since 1949.
later in Walasse Ting's studio.
With Appel and Ting appears in Encre, film on lithogra-
phy by Jean Cleinge.
151
1965
Executes Central Park (cat. no. i ), his first acrylic paint-

ing with marginal remarks: the work from which the
concept of the present exhibition issues.
Increasingly abandons oil in favor of acrylic, and for

supports adopts paper, which he will learn to mount on
canvas.
One-man exhib including forty paintings from

American collec s at The Arts Club of Chicago.
Stay in New York, interrupted by trip to Mexico.
Denoel, Paris, publishes his Titres et pains perdus. Notes

on disappearances, losses of meaning, transmission dif-
ficulties, blanks, wants and useless persistences. "The ti-
tles inscribed on the backs of paintings usually live with

their noses to the wall, in penitence."
Breton includes Central Park in the Xle (and last) Ex-

position Internationale dii Surrealisme, Paris.
1966
Triennial Prize for Printmaking in Belgium.
Prize, International Biennial of Printmaking, Krakow

(ex-aequo).
Unfolded Newspapers (see cat. nos. 3-6, 8), series of

narrative drawings which includes All in One Breath
(cat. no. 2) and for which he writes a commentary.
1967
First acrylic painting with a predella (a series of images
under the principal subject) Under Fire (cat. no. 9).
New work in graphics with help of Jean Clerte, whom

he knew at Atelier 17 m 1952: books, engravings and
lithographs.
Series of paintings, engravings and drawings on the

theme of Gilles, hero of the Carnaval de Binche, at
Stephane Janssen's Galerie La Balance, Brussels; cata-
logue preface by Pol Bury.
One-man exhibition of eighty-five drawings, the Ideo-

traces, at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
1968
Marzotto-Europe Grand Prize for Painting, Valdagno,

Italy.
Sources of Information (see cat. nos. 14-18): inks with

multiple subjects.
Drawings on Butor's "tapuscnts": appropriation of the Bougival, 1968, one of the Star and
author's rejects and rough drafts. Book-object with Disaster paintings in the background
Joyce Mansour: Le Bleu des fonds.
Drawing for Chateau Mouton-Rothschild label, 1966

vintage.
1969
First retrospective in Belgium, at Palais des Beaux-Arts

de Bruxelles, which travels to Denmark and Germany.
Trip to Canary Islands.
152
Stars and Disasters (see cat. no. 19): diverse works evok-
ing spheres and wheels. In collaboration with Arman,
Indivisible Prints, which are dipped in resin.
Constructs a new studio in Bougival.
1970
Second Prize, Festival International de Peinture, Cagnes-
sur-Mer.
Luc de Heusch film Alechinsky d'apres nature (narrated

by Claude Rich, music by Michel Portal, Albina Produc-
tion, Paris).
With Jorn and Ting: "paintings for four hands."

Decorative panel for an Air France Boeing 747. The Vol-
canoes: Volcanalysis, Volcanology, etc.
Leaves organizing committee of Salon de Mai, Paris.
Paints Aztec Volcano (cat. no. 25), gift of Enrico and

Fiorella Chiari to Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice,
in 1984.
Trip to Norway.
Completes his book Roue libre, published by Skira,

Geneva, in which he discovers a key to Surrealism, lying
somewhere between Le Musicien de Saint-Merry by
Guillaume Apolhnaire and The Invisible )bject of (
Giacometti, and which evokes Breton, Butor, Cobra,

Dotremont, Jorn, Ting, etc.
1972
Invites Dotremont to share the Belgian Pavilion with
him at XXXVI Venice Biennale, from which Peggv
Guggenheim acquires his painting Dressing Gown.
Yves Riviere classifies the 600 prints completed since
1946.
Bird's-Eye View (cat. no. 26), first painting with a black

and white ink drawing in the center and colored mar-
ginalia drawn on old manuscript pages (palimpsest prin-
ciple).
1973
Trip to Turkey.
First retrospective of drawings, at Musee Royal d'Art

Moderne, Brussels.
Krach: drawings and engravings on worthless stock cer-

tificates.
His L'Avenir de la propriete published by Yves Riviere,

Paris.
Death of his father. Death of Jorn at age 59.
1974
Trip to Lappland.
First retrospective of acrylic paintings,

1965-74, at
Mathildenhohe, Darmstadt, which travels in slightly dif-
ferent forms to Rotterdam, Paris and Zurich until 1975.
153
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, 1974: left to Helene Dupin, Nicole Meurice, Bazaine, Mako Gardy-
right and top to bottom, Nuna Farreras, Ubac, Dupin, Artigas, Josep Luis Sert, Fiedler, Pol Bury, Palazuelo,
Farreras, Lelong, Daniele Bourgois, Framboise Simcek, Muncha Sert, Pill Chilhda, Chilhda, Calder, Garache,
Tal-Coat, Elisabeth Dupin, Meurice, Alechinsky, Fre- Frednkson, Gardy-Artigas, Adami, Camilla Adami,
naud, Micky Alechinsky, Louisa Calder, Aguy Ubac, Jean-Louis Prat, Christine Dupin, Diego Giacometti,
Pilar Miro, Miro, Marguerite Maeght, Aime Maeght, Genevieve Picon
154
At request of Minister Michel Guy, decorates a dinner First ink drawings on maps, then on obsolete airforce
service, produced by Manufacture Nationale de Porce- operational navigational charts.
laine de Sevres, for Ministry of Culture, Paris.
Retrospective at Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover.
1975
1981
Burns 200 paintings which he considers unresolved.
Pierre Alechinsky: A Print Retrospective, The Museum
Permanent Alechinsky Room at Louisiana Museum of of Modern Art, New York.
Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark.
Executes Past Unnoticed (cat. no. 50), his largest acrylic
Executes The Sound of the Fall (cat. no. 31) and other painting to date.
paintings inspired by the movement of water.
With Matta, "Duo hthographique" for Joyce Mansour's
1976 poem Le Grand Jamais, published by Maeght, Paris.
Andrew W. Mellon Prize (formerly Carnegie Prize) for A group of watercolors and drawings is destroyed in a
his entire oeuvre, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, fire at Calligrammes Gallery, Ottawa.
Pittsburgh.
Codex (cat. no.
Paints 48), gift of Jerome Brody to
Bouches du Rhone Suite (see cat. nos. 33-37), large Guggenheim Museum in 1985.
drawings on Taiwan paper, executed at Saint-Remy-de-
1982
Provence. With Dotremont, mural for a Brussels metro
station. With Appel, works "for two brushes," col- Organizes first retrospective of Dotremont's work, Dor-
laborative inks, drawings and etchings. remont, peintre de I'ecriture, shown at Centre Culturel
de la Communaute Francaise de Belgique, Paris.
1977
Works in ceramics with Hans Spinner at Fondation
Retrospective of works 1946- at Museum of Art,
Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France.
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh.
Large India inks with colored borders mounted on
A.M.G., Pans, and Abrams, New York, publish
canvas.
Alechinsky: Peintures et ecrits, Alechinsky: Paintings
and Writings, with his "souvenotes," preface by Eugene 1983
Ionesco: "Alechinsky is the painter-fisherman, the rod,
Professor of Painting at Ecole Nationale Superieure des
the hook, the water flowing in the river, and the fish, all
Beaux-Arts, Paris.
rolled up in one. Now it's struck me that I just stated
quite simply that this work synthesizes no, I don't like First paintings with rubbings of manhole covers.
that word brings together the interior and the exterior.
1984
Begins drawings and watercolors on d'Arenberg family-
National Grand Prize of Arts and Letters for Painting,
papers dating from 1 812 45. Paris.
His Ensortileges, texts on Dotremont, James Ensor, Jorn

Retrospective of drawings 1952-78 at Musee National and Bram van Velde, published by Fata Morgana,
d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Pans. Montpellier.
Recycled Papers (cat. no. $^), lithographs on facsimiles Drawings on pages from nineteenth-century world atlas.
of discarded invoices. Peter & Pierre, film by Ole Henning Hansen about a
Joins Galerie Maeght, Paris (Galerie Maeght Lelong printer and an artist Bramsen and Alechinsky.
after 1982.).
Creates a stamp for French Postal Service: a Writing

With Pol Bury and Jean-Michel Folon, a campaign of Wheel on a fragment of a manuscript by Butor (see cat.
mockery directed against "surregionalism" in Belgium no. 108). At request of Minister Jack Lang, decorates re-
ception room (walls, ceiling and rug; of Ministry of Cul-
Large etchings on Taiwan paper.
ture, Paris. Album and Blue: ceramic mural for Musee
Death of Dotremont at age 56. en Plein Air du Sart Tilman, University of Liege.
1986
Trip to Mexico. In collaboration with Alberto Temporary decorations for elevator entrances on four
Gironella, drawings of bullfights. Retrospective of ramps of Guggenheim Museum (cat. no. 87), New York.
drawings at Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City.
Death of John Lefebre, to whom Margin and Center is
For the 150th anniversary of Belgium, with Hugo Claus dedicated.

and Henri Pousseur creates a Gans Belgie-L'Oie beige, a
form of Snakes and Ladders.
155
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
"Indicates that prints only were shown
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels , Jeune Peinture Beige,
October 25-November 9, 1947. Catalogue with text by
Paul Fierens
Galene Maeght, Paris , Les Mains eblouies, September

28-November 1, 1948
<- ^m Stedelijk Museu m Amsterdam lere Exposition Inter-
u\fL
. ,
nationale a" Art Experimental, ( Dbra, November [949.

Catalogue published in Cobra, no. 4
*JGl** 1 i i^JIH t- Galene Maeght, Pans Les Mains eblouies, October 6-

,
30, 1950. Catalogue, Derriere le Miroir, no. 52, with
np I 1 -J jipi^Hrjp text by Michel Ragon
lurlottenhorg, Copenhagen Spiralen, December 30,

P ^^H^^C (. ,
i iSS 1950-January 14, 95 1. Catalogue

ifSwl
1
1
Palais des Beaux-Arts. I lege , zeme Exposition Inter-
nationale d'Art Experimental, Cobra, October 6-

November 6, 195 1. Catalogue published in Cobra, no. 1
Museum of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh ,
The 19^2 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Con-

temporary Painting, October 16-December 14, 1952.
Catalogue with text by Gordon Bailey Washburn
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Dertien belgische , schil-
ders, October-November 1952. Catalogue

Arrival of Rooskens, Schierbeek,
Wolvecamp, Brands, Gotz, 'Kunsthandel Martinet, Amste rdam, Quelques graveurs
Corneille,
Doucet, Alechinsky, Tony Lucebert, El-
contemporams: Autour de I' Atelier 17, November 26
burg, Dotremont, Tajin, Kouwenaar,
December 23, 1953. Catalogue with text by Stanley
Constant, Appel, Victor Nieuwenhuys, William Hayter. Traveled to Palais des Beaux-Arts,
Brussels, January 9-20, 1954; t'Venster, Rotterdam,
Cobra exhibition, Stedelijk Museum,
Amsterdam, 1949 February 27-March 27; Nordisk Kunsthandel,
Copenhagen, May 20-June; Gallena Numero, Florence,
December 16, 1954-January 5, 1955
Gallena Spazio, Rome , Caratteri della pittura d'oggi,
June 26July 31, 1954. Catalogue with texts by Luigi

Moretti and Michel Tapie
Gallena Schettini, Milan . II gesto: rassegna inter-

nazionale delle forme libere, June 18-July 18, 1955.
Catalogue
Galene Taptoe, Brussels Dotremont avec Cobra, July

,
31-September 26, 1956
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague Hedendaagse Belgische ,
November 8,
en Nederlandse Schilderkunst, Facetten 2,
1956-January 14, 1957. Catalogue with texts by W. A.
Beeren and R. W. D. Oxenaar
I 5 6
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Pans Prix , The Arts Club of Chicago , First Midwestern Exhibition
Guggenheim 1956, November 28-December 16, 1956. of Belgian Painters, September 28-October 28, 1961.
Catalogue. Traveled to Solomon R. Guggenheim Catalogue with text by J. Van Lerberghe. Traveled to
Museum, New York, as Guggenheim International The Art Gallery, University of Notre Dame, South Bend,
Award 1956, March 26-June 2, 1957, with checklist Indiana, November 19-December 17; The Toledo
with text by James Johnson Sweeney Museum of Art, January 12-February 12, 1962; Con-
temporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, March 5 April 12;
Stedclijk Museum, Amsterdam Phasen, May 10-June
,
The University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Min-

10, 1957. Catalogue with texts by Francois Arnal, Jac-
neapolis, April 16-May 14
ques Audiberti and Camille Bryen, Christian Dotre-
mont, Edouard Jaguer, Gherasim Luca, Lucebert, Lasse Galerie Aujourd'hui, Pala is des Beaux-Arts, Brussels ,
Soderberg and the artist Cobra et apres, March 3 1 April 14, 1962. Catalogue
with text by Joseph Noiret
Palais des l'c.iux Arts^Bnissels, (JiicUjini artistes beiges
depuis Ensor, April 12-September 30, 1958. Catalogue Seattle World's Fair Art since i9\o: American and
, In-
with text by Paul Haesaerts ternational, April 21 October 21, 1962. Catalogue with
texts by Norman Davis and Willem Sandberg
Exposition Univ crscllc de Bruxelles, L' Art Beige Con-
temporain, April 21-October 19, 1958 Castello Cmquecentesco, L'Aquila, Italy Alternatwi at- ,
tuali: Omaggio a Burri, |uly August 1962. Catalogue

Solomon R. ( lUggcnhcim Museum Ne w Y ork Twenty
, ,
with texts by Antonio Bandera and Enrico Crispolti

Contemporary Painters from the Philippe Dotremont
Collection, Brussels, March 31-May 24, 1959. Cata- Galerie Westing Odense, , Denmark Dotremont:
, teg-
logue with texts by Paul Fierens and James Johnson ninger skrif, boger og tegneord med Alechinsky, Appel,
Sweeney Balle, Claus, February 16-25, 1963
Centro Internazionale dclle Arti e del Costume, Palazzo Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam , Schrift en beeld, May 3-
Grassi, Venice , Vitalitd nell'arte, August 8-October 4, June to, 1963. Catalogue with text by Dietrich
1959. Catalogue with texts by Paolo Marinotti, Henri Mahlow. Traveled to Staathche Kunsthalle, Baden-
Michaux and Willem Sandberg. Traveled to Kunsthalle Baden, June 14-August 4, 1963
Recklinghausen, West Germany, November December;
Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna , Idole und
Stedehjk Museum, Amsterdam, December 1959-Janu-
Ddmonen, July 5-September 1, 1963. Catalogue
ary i960
Centro Internazionale delle Am e del Costume, Palazzo
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts European Art Today:
,
Grassi, Venice , Visione colore, July 6-October 6, 1963.
3 j Painters and Sculptors, September 3 -October 25,
Catalogue with texts by Christian Dotremont and Paolo
1959. Catalogue with texts by James Fitzsimmons and
Marinotti
Sam Hunter. Traveled to Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, November 1 i-December 20; San Francisco Staathche Kunsthalle, Bade n-Baden lllustrationen, Jan- ,
Museum of Art, January 6 February 9, i960; North uary 21 February 27, 1964. Catalogue with texts by
Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, February 26-April 3; Godula Buchholz and Dietrich Mahlow
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, April 20-May 24; kassel. West Germany, Docitmcnta III: Malerei,
French & Company, Inc., New York, June 7-August Skulptur, Handzeichnungen, June 27-October 5, 1964.
13; The Baltimore Museum of Art, September 18- Catalogue with text by Werner Haftmann
October 16
Museum voor Scheme Kunsten, Gent, Belgium Figuratie ,
V Bienal do Museo de Arte Moderna de S. Paolo, en defiguratiel Figuration et defiguration, July 10-Oc-
Belgian Section, 1959. Catalogue with text by J. Van tober 4, 1964. Catalogue with texts by Bernard Dorival,
Lerberghe Geirlandt, Paul Haesaerts, Pierre Restany and Patrick
J.
Parke Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York , The Arts of Bel- Waldberg
gium 1920-1960, June 29-August 5, i960. Catalogue L'Oeil, Paris , L'Ecart absolu: Xle Exposition Inter-
with texts by R. Bodart, K. Jonckeere and J. Van Lerberghe nationale du Surrealisme, December 7, 1965-January
Lefebre Gallery, New York Cobra,
i960: Alechinsky, 1966. Catalogue with texts by Andre Breton, Jose Pierre
Cornetlle, Jorn, November 15-December 3, i960. and Jean-Francois Revel
Catalogue with text by H. L. C. Jaffe Solomon R Gug genheim Museum. New York Euro-
.
,
Hengelose Kunstzaal, Hengelo, The Netherlands Ges- ,

pean Drawings, February 24-April 27, 1966. Catalogue
talten, March 24-Apnl 24, 1961. Catalogue with text with texts by Lawrence Alloway and Thomas M. Mes-
by H. L. C. Jaffe
157
scr. Traveled to University Gallery, University of Min- Kunsthalle, Darmstadt Menschenbilder, September 14
,
nesota, Minneapolis, May 1031; DeCordova Museum, November 17, 1968. Catalogue with texts by Rolf-
Lincoln, Massachusetts, June 26-September 4; Museum Gunter Dienst, Arnold Gehlen, Werner Hofmann and
of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Sep- Wieland Schmied
tember 14-Octoher S; The National Gallery of Canada,
Galerie La Balance, Brussels Alechmsky, Appel, Cor-
,
Ottawa, November 28-December 25; Milwaukee Art

netlle, Dotremont, Jorn, January 8-February 8, 1969.
Center, January 5-February 5, 196^; The High
Catalogue
Museum of Art, Atlanta, March 1 3 1; Dallas Museum
'
of Fine Arts, April 5-May Krannert Art Museum, Tendances Contemporaines, La Louviere, Belgium , f
1 1 5;
Champaign-Urbana, May 28-June

University of Illinois, Affiches pour un Centenaire: Alechmsky, Pol Bury,
25;The North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh. July Folon, Mauncs Henry, Topor, June 724, 1969.
rj-August 20 Catalogue with text by Ernest Pirotte (pseud, for Pol Bury)
The Public Education Association, Berkeley, California ,

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Selec- ,
tions from the Guggenheim Museum Collection 1900-

Seven Decades: Crosscurrents in Modern Art, 189 s
1965, April 26-May 21, 1966. Catalogue with text by 1970, May i-September 13, 1970. Handbook: Selec-
Peter Selz tions from the Guggenheim Museum Collection 1900-
1970, with texts by Thomas M. Messer and Louise

Museum Bovmans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam Cobra ,
Averill Svendsen and interview of the artist by Jacques
1948/51, May 20-July 17, 1966. Catalogue with text by
Putman, published on occasion of exhibition
Willemi|n de Haas-Stokvis. Traveled to Louisiana
Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark, August Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh , Pitts-
t9-October 2, with catalogue, special issue of Louisiana burgh International 19-0: Exhibition of Contemporary
Rcvx, with texts by W. Art, October 30, 1970-January 10, 1971. Catalogue
de Haas Stockvis, Knud W. Jen-
sen, Dahlmann Olsen, Willem Sandberg, the artist with text by Leon A. Arkus
et al.
Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris , Bande dessinee et fi-

The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Edinburgh , In-
guration narrative, April 1967. Catalogue with texts by ternational Festival 1971: The Belgian Contribution to
Gerald Gassiot-Talabot and Burne Hogarth Surrealism, August 21-September 19, 1971. Catalogue
with texts by Peter Diamond, Gisele Ollinger-Zinque
Ausstellungshallcn Mathildenhohe, Darmstadt, West
and Roland Penrose. Traveled to Sophienholm Kgs,
Germany, 2. Internationale der Zeichnung, July 16-Sep-
Lyngby, Denmark, October 7-November 14
tember 10, 1967. Catalogue with text by Otto Stelzer
Bergens Kunstforening, Bergen, Norway Cobra
, 1 Jag,
Centro Internationale delle Arti e del Costume, Palazzo
January --23, 19-2. Catalogue with texts by Gunnar
Grassi, Venice , Campo vitale: /nostra intemazionale
Jespersen and the artist
d'arte contemporanea, July 27-October 9, 1967.
Catalogue with text by Paolo Marinotti Grand Palais, Reunion des Musees Nationaux, Pans ,
Douze am d'art contemporain en France: 19601971,

Royal Dublin Society Rose , '67: The Poetry of Vision,
May-September 1972. Catalogue with texts by Daniel
An International Exhibition of Modern Painting aiul
Cordier, Maurice Eschapasse, Francois Mathey, Jacques
Ancient Celtic Art, November 1 3-December 30, 1967.
Putman, the artist et al.
Catalogue with texts by Jean Leymarie, Willem
Sandberg and James Johnson Sweeney Haus der Kunst, Munich Welt Kulturen und moderne
,
Kunst, June 16-September 30, 19-2. Catalogue with

Komnkhik Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp ,
texts by Manfred Schneckenburger and Siegfried
1947 1967: Kontrasten, Schilderkunst in Belgie, Feb-
Wichmann
ruary 18-May 12, 1968. Catalogue with texts by W.
Vanbeselaere and the artist
Musee des Beaux-Arts du Havre, Le Havre Michel ,
Butor et ses peintres, March 12-April 15, 19^3. Cata-

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Paintings ,
logue with text by Michel Butor. Traveled to Palais des
from the Albrigbt-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New
Beaux-Arts, Brussels, April 24-May 12; Musee Mas-
York, May 19-June 21, 1968. Catalogue with text by
sena, Nice, June 19-July 22
Gordon Mackintosh Smith
Galena S. Mamede, Lisbon Cobra: Alechmsky, Appel,
,
Kunstmuseum, Lucerne Neue Formen expressionis-

,
Jorn, June 1973. Catalogue with texts compiled by
tischer Malerei sett /950, July
28-September 22, 1968.
Edouard Jaguer
Catalogue
158
7t~*? '*LJ* *~ ~ ^
Nationalgal erig; Berlin, Hotnmage a Picasso, July n-
\ August 27, 1973- Catalogue with texts by Werner
Haftmann and Wieland Schmied
Museum ot hue Arts, t amebic Instit ute, Pittsburgh Art
,
in Residence: Art Privately Owned in the Pittsburgh

Area, October 17, 1973-January 6, 1974. Catalogue
with text by Leon A. Arkus
''Modern Art in Prints: 1947-1972 (organized by The

Museum of Modern Art, New York), traveled in Aus-
tralia, April September 1973; New Zealand, October
1973-January 1974; India, February-June; Iran, June-
July; Japan, September 1974-March 1975. Catalogue
with text by Riva Castleman
Gran d Pal ais, Reunion des Mn sees Natm naux, Pans ,
Jean Paulhan a travers ses peintres, February 1 April

15, 1974. Catalogue with texts by Andre Berne-Joffroy,
Jean Leymarie and Jean Paulhan
Hotel de Ville, Brussels , Cobra '48 '51 '74, April 428,
1974. Catalogue with texts by Jacques Calonne, Cons-

tant, Christian Dotremont, Uffe Harder, Asger Jorn and
Christiane Rugemer
Chateau de Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, France Aspects du sur- ,
realisme, July 14-October 1, 1974. Catalogue with text

by Jose Pierre
Stadti sche k imsthalle I >u sseldor t, SurrcalitatHild-

realitat1924-1974: In den unzahligen Bildern des Le-
bens, December 8, 1974-February 2, 1975. Catalogue
with texts by Andre Breton, Jurgen Harten and Bern-
hard Kerber. Traveled to Staatliche Kimsthalle Baden-
Baden, February 14 April 13
Galerie Mark, Zurich 6 from < lobra 1975, January 31

,
February 22, 1975. Catalogue with text by Uffe Harder
Museum, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium Cobra 197s,

Stedelijk ,
September 21-October 26, 1975. Catalogue with texts

by Anne Choisez and Christian Dotremont. Traveled to
Maison de la Culture de Namur, Belgium, November
14-December 7
Los Angeles ( ountvMuseum ot Art, European painting

in the seventies: new work by sixteen artists, September
30-November 23, 1975. Catalogue with text by
Maurice Tuchman. Traveled to St. Louis Art Museum,
March 16 May 9, 1976; Elveh|em Art Center, Madi-
son, Wisconsin, June 8-August 1
Museum of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh In- ,
augural Exhibition of the Heinz Galleries, October 25,

1975-January 4, 1976. Catalogue with texts by Leon A.
Arkus and David Rockefeller
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France Daily ,
Bid and C, February 7-March 7, 1976. Catalogue.
159
Traveled to Studio du Passage 44, Brussels, April 9-May Fondacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon Arte Belga , de-
2.3; Neue Galerie, Aix-La-Chapelle, West Germany, pots de 1945", November 1980. Catalogue with text by
October 16-November 2.1 Christian Dotn
The Western A ustralia Art Cillery, Perth. Contempo- Musee Nati onal d'Art Moderne, Centre Geo rges Pom-
rary Drawing, May 53 1, 1977. Catalogue with texts pidou, Pans Paris 1937-Paris 195 7: creations en
,
by Lou Klepac and Bertram Whittle France, May 22-November 2, 1981. Catalogue with
texts by Agnes Anghviel de Beaumelle, Jean-Claude
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pom-
Groshens and Pontus Hulten
pidou, Paris Paris-New York, June i-September 19,
,
1977. Catalogue with texts by Pontus Hulten and the \luseen del Stadt kohl, Wcstkunst. Zeitgennssiiche
artist Kunst seit 1919, May 30-August 16, 1981. Catalogue
with texts by Laszlo Glozer, Kaspar Koenig and Karl
Kassel, West Germany Documents
, 6, June 24-October
Ruhrberg
2, 1977. Catalogue with text by Wieland Schmied
Espace Lyonnais d'Art Contemporain, Lyon Perma-
Galerie Rus, Trondheim, Norway Cobra 1948/1978,
,
,
nence du regard surrealiste, June 30-September 22,

September 14-October 8, 1978. Catalogue with text by
1 98 1. Catalogue with texts by Edouard Jaguer and the
Per Hovdenakk
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Villc de Pans Asger Jorn a ,
Cialerie Birch, Den Fne L'dstilhngshvg nmg. I openha-

Silkeborg: le musee d'un peintre, October 14-
gen Paris-Koebenhavn, September 5-20, 1981. Cata-
November 12, 1978. Catalogue with texts by Asger
,
logue with text by the artist

Jorn, Jacques Lassaigne and Niels Matthiasen
m Musee des Arts Decoratirs, Pans , I.' art en soie, January

Nationalgalene, Berlin , 1 Jahre neuen Hans, De-
1430, 1982. Catalogue with text by the artist. Traveled
cember 1978-January 21, 1979. Catalogue with
11,
texts by Dieter Honisch and Stephan Waetzoldt
toMusee Historique des Tissus, Lyon, March 23-
Apnl 30
5
Kunstroreningen, Copenhagen Imprimerte Ittho- ,
Fondation Maeght. Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France L'Unt-

grapbique Clot, Bramsen & Georges, Paris, April 24- ,
vers d'Aime et Marguerite Maeght, July 3 -October 3,

July 1, 1979. Catalogue with texts by Charlotte Chris-
1982. Catalogue with texts by Andre Chastel, Jean Fre-
tensen and Antonio Saura. Traveled to Sonderiyllands
mon, Jean-Louis Prat and the artist
Kunstmuseum, Tender, Denmark, August 25Sep-
tember 20; Alvar Aalto Museo, Jyaskvla, Finland, Sep- Rilksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede, The Netherlands , In-
tember 27-October 14; Son|a Hemes og Niels Onstads formele Kunst 194^-1960, December 4, 1982-January
Stiftelser, Hovikkoden, Norway, December 1, 1979- 16, 1983. Catalogue with text by Willemi|n Stokvis.
January 15, 1980 Traveled to Dordrechts Museum, The Netherlands, Jan-
uary 29 March 1
3
Fondanon Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France Des- ,
sins de la Fondatton Maeght, March 29-May 31, 1980. Centre Culture! de la Communaute Franchise de Bel-
Catalogue with text by Jean-Louis Prat gique Wallonie-Bruxelles, Pans Dotremont, peintre de ,
I'ecriture, avec Cobra, December 8, 1982-January 2,

Lefebre Gallery, New York , Salute to Belgium, April 1-
1983. Catalogue with texts by Christian Dotremont,
26, 1980. Catalogue with text by Luc de Heusch
Jean-Clarence Lambert and the artist
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles Belgique ,
Pays-
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Pans Cobra 1948- ,
Bas: convergences et paralleles dans I'art depuis 1945,
1951, December 9, 1982-February 20, 1983. Catalogue
June 20 August 10, 1980. Catalogue with texts by
with texts by Gilles Beraud, Bernadette Contensou and
Dotremont and Daniele Gillemon. Traveled
Christian to
Sylvain Lecombre. Traveled to Maison de la Culture,
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Feb-
Chalon-sur-Saone, France, March 4-April 17; Musee
ruary 20 March 22, 198
des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, April 29-June 12
Abbaye de S aint-S.um-siir-C.artemp e, France ,
Musee Picasso, Chateau Grimaldi, Antibes "Bonjottr ,

Boomerang: une quarantaine d'oeuvres inattendues
Monsieur Picasso," April 1983. Catalogue with texts by
d'une quarantaine d'artistes contemporains, June 22-
Marie-Laure Bernadac, Gerald Gassiot-Talabot, Daniele
August 17, 1980. Catalogue with texts by Alechinsky on
Giraudy and the artist
Karel Appel, Christian Dotremont, Asger Jorn, Rein-
houd, Walasse Ting, Bram van Velde and himself Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York , Acquisi-
tion Priorities: Aspects of Postwar European Painting,
May zo-September n, 1983. Catalogue with text by Solomon R. Guggenheim M useum, New York Pain-
,
Thomas M. Messer terly Visions, 1940-1984, June 28-September 3, 1985.

Brochure with text by Susan B. Hirschfeld
Galene de la Ganserhaus, Wasserhurg sui I nn, Austria ,
Cobra-Spur-Wir-Geflecht-Kollektw-Herzogstrasse, July 'Chateau de la Koihc-Jag u, Ploezal. France Daily Bui ,
31-September 15, 1983. Catalogue with text by 1955 1985: 30 annees d'editions d'activite, July 7-Sep-
Eberhard Simons. Traveled to Galerie der Kiinstler, tember 30, 1985. Catalogue with texts by Pol Bury et al.
Munich, November 9-December 2, 1984; Bonner National Museum of Art, t )saka, apan Action et emo-
J ,
Kunstverein, February 7-March 17, 1985; Gesellschaft tion: peintures des annees 50, September 27-November
fiir Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, April Lam-
26, 1985. Catalogue with texts by Jean-Clarence
1 iiky (i Metropolitan I eien An Museum, \lo, /,/;/ Art in bert and Sylvain Lecombre
the West (organized by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, F ort 1 auderdale. Florida, Masterworks
Museum, New York), October i-December 23, 1983.
from the Meyer and Golda Marks Cobra Art Collection,
Catalogue with text by Thomas M. Messer
January 18-March 30, 1986. Catalogue
Centre National des Ar ts Plasti ci nes, Villa Arson, Nice ,
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Cobra:
,
Ecritures dans la peinture, April 6-August 31, 1984. Karel van Stuijvenberg Collection, Caracas, February
Catalogue with texts by Michel Butor, Michel Sicard 15 March 19, 1986. Catalogue with text by Sylvain
and the artist
Lecombre
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian "
City Gallery, Department of Cultural Affairs, New-
Institution, Washington, D.C. , Artistic Collaboration in
York Books and Graphics of Cobra Artists, March 28-
,
the Twentieth Century, June 9-August 19, 1984.

April 26, 1986. Catalogue with text by Willemi|n
Catalogue with texts by Robert C. Hobbs, Cynthia Jaf-
Stockvis
fee McCabe and David Shapir. Traveled to Milwaukee
Art Center,November 18, 1984-January 15, 1985; J. B.

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlehaek, Den-
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, February 21-April 21 mark, Portrait of a Collector: Ste'phane Janssen, April
5-May 11, 1986. Catalogue with texts by Stephane
Tuchtabnk, Trier, West G e rman y. Europaiscbc Malcrci Janssen andKnud W. Jensen. Traveled to University Art
der Gegenwart (Spuren und Zeichen), August 25- Museum, California State University, Long Beach, Janu-
November 18, 1984. Catalogue with texts by Lorenz
ary 27-March 8, 1987
Dittmann, Eugene [onesco and Claus D. Kernig
Galerie Artcurial, Paris, L'Aventurc surrealiste autour
De Zonnehof, Amersfoort, The Netherlands Cobra: , av-
d' Andre Breton, May 13-July 31, 1986. Catalogue with
entures collectives, September 18-October 18, 1984.
text by Jose Pierre
Catalogue with texts by Gilles Beraud, Constant, Chris-
tian Dotremont, Erik Nyholm, the artist et al. Traveled Centre Lotois des Arts Cuntemporains, Musee de
Cahors, France Changer la vue, July-August 1986.
to Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, November 2, 1984- ,
Catalogue with text by Jose Pierre

January 6, 1985; Kunstindustrimuseet, Copenhagen,
January 17-February 17; Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum Sala Mendoza, Caracas, Cobra sobre papel (Karel van
Aalborg, Denmark, March 13 April 28; Salle Saint- Stuijvenberg Collection), September 14-October 5,
Georges, Liege, May 10-June 16; Maison de la Culture 1986. Catalogue
de Tournai, Belgium, June 22-August 10
Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia Collects Art
,
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas El , Since 1940, September 28-November 30, 1986.
Movimento Cobra en la Coleccion Karel van Stuijven- Catalogue with texts by Anne d'Harnoncourt, Ann
berg, September 1984. Catalogue with texts by Sofia Percy and Mark Rosenthal
Imber, Jean-Clarence Lambert and Christiane Rugemer
Konsthall Malmo, ( 'obra as Reflected by the Karel van
Maison de la Culture Andre Malraux, Reims, France , Stuijvenberg Collection, October 31-December 17,

Oeuvres croisees Michel Butor, November 21- 1986. Catalogue with texts by Jean-Clarence Lambert
December 21, 1984. Catalogue with text by Michel and Lasse Soderberg. Traveled to Taipei Fine Arts
Sicard Museum, January 10 March 15, 1987; Liljevalchs
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, Belgium Aittour de Konsthall, Stockholm, June 12-September 6
,
la bande dessinee, January 12-March 3, 1985. Cata- Kunstforenmgen, Copenhagen, Fransk Visit, Galerie
logue with texts by Laurent Busine, Jacques Lacarriere, Maeght Lelong besoger Kunstforeningen, November
Gilbert Lascault and Jean-Hubert Martin 14-December 14, 1986. Catalogue. Traveled to Gum-
l6l
mesons Konstgallen, Stockholm, January io-I ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS
4. C987 Oaiene 1 011 C osyn, Brussels, Pierre Alechinsky, April
Galene Espace, Amsterdam, Galerie Espace i< 15-14, 1947
1986, November 16, 1986January 1-, 1987 Galene Apollo, Brussels , Fetes, trouble-fete, peintures,
Galene Ja Ostier, Pans, Les Sources Japonaises de November 6-18, 1948. Catalogue with
etc., text by Luc
Vart occidental, November 18, 1986 February 28, Zangne (pseud, for Luc de Heusch)
98-. Catalogue with texts by Nelly Delay, Elisabeth
1
Le Diable par la Queue, Brussels, Alechinsky (with [an
Ostier, Antoni Tapies, Gabnelle Van Zuylen, the artist Cox and Marc Mendelson), April 22-May 10, 1950
et al.
Kunsthandel Martinet, Amsterdam L'arbre , et I'arme
kunst Foru m, Se heli.leroi.le. Belgi um, Alechinsky: (with Shinkichi Tajiri), February-March 1953. Cata-
lithographies etsen, December 6, 1986 February 1, logue with text by Christian Dotremont
19S-
Gallena Schwarz, Milan, Alechinsky, October 18-31,
Au Theatre du Rond-Point, Cie Renaud-Barrault, Pans,
1954
Sous le signe du Taureau, December 9, )8h-)a
Galene Nina Dausset, Pans, Alechinsky, November 19-
2.5, E987. Catalogue
December 1
5, 1954- Catalogue with text by Chr
Dotremont
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels Alechinsky, , March 26-

Apnl 10, 1955. Catalogue
N_ab]s <_,allcr\ , I ok\o. \lechmsk\ . September 9-2 3,
Galene du Dragon, Pans Alechinsky, , May 15-30, 1956
Galene Espace, Haarlem Alechinsky, January 18-Feb- ,
ruary 9, 1957
Galene Auiourd'hi Brussels, Pierre Alechinsky: des-

sins, October 2.6 November 9,
Galene Michel Warren, Pans, Alechinsky, November

15 December 7, 1957
Galerie Michel Warren, Pans, Alechinsky (with Jean
Messagier and Bram van Velde), November 1 3-De-
cember 13, 1958. Catalogue
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, Alechinsky,

1958
Kunsthalle Bern, 4 Metier: Tapies, Alechinsky, Mes-

sagier, Moser, September 26-October 25, 1959.
Catalogue with text by Franz Meyer
XXX Biennale di Venezia, Belgian Pavilion, July i960.

Catalogue with text by Franz Meyer
< i.ilene I >. Benadoi ,

I iene\ a, Alci hmsky, < )ctober 1 yfto.
Catalogue with text by Jacques Putman
Kunstknng, Rotterdam, Alechinsky, peintures;

Reinhoud, sculptures, March 31April 30, 1961.
Traveled to Stedeli|k Museum, Amsterdam, as
Alechinsky + Reinhoud, May 26-June 26, with
catalogue with text by Jacques Putman
Galerie van de Loo, Munich, Pierre Alechinsky:

Aquarelle und Tuschzeichnungen, October 1 3-
November 30, 1961. Catalogue with texts by Christian
Dotremont and the artist
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh , The

1961 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contempo-
rary Paintingand Sculpture, one-man exhibition, Octo-
ber 27, 1961-January 7, 1962. Catalogue with text by
Gordon Bailey Washburn
Lefebre Gallery, New York, Alechinsky: oils drawings
watercolors, February 17-March 24, 1962. Catalogue
with text by Walasse Ting
Galene de France, Paris , Alechinsky, May 2-28, 1962.

Catalogue with text by Jean-Francois Revel
Stedelijk Museum. Amsterdam Que , d'encre...wat een

inkt, January 18-March 4, 1963. Catalogue with dia-
logue between Jacques Putman and the artist
Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Nether-

lands, Alechinsky, March 22-April 29, 1963. Catalogue
with text by Hugo Claus
Galene-Libraine La Hune, Pans Alechinsky, , May 8-

31, 1963. Catalogue with text by the artist
VII Bienal do Museo de Arte Moderna de S. Paulo

Alechinsky ,with Marchoul and Remhoud), 1963.
Catalogue with text by Edouard Jaguer
Galene de France, Pans Remhoud, Alechinsky

, et Ting:
solo de sculpture et divertissement arrange pour pein-

ture a auatre mams. October 25 November 25, 1963.
Catalogue with text by the artist
Lefebre Gallery, New York . Alechinsky: recent icorks,

November 5-December 7, 1963. Catalogue with text by
Edouard Jaguer
Galerie Birch, Copenhagen Alechinsky, January 9-23,

,
1964. Catalogue with text by Christian Dotremont
Instituto Torcuato di Telia, Museo de Artes Visuales,

Buenos Aires Das , artistas belgas: Alechinsky y
Reinhoud, March 18-April 12, 1964. Catalogue with
texts by Jorge Romero Brest and Edouard Jaguer
Galene Espace. Amsterdam Alechinsky: Tekenmgen ,

Grafiek, April 15-May 6, 1964
Gallena 11 Punto Arte -Moderna, Turin Alechinsky, ,
opened May 8, 1964. Catalogue with text by Ernest

Pirotte (pseud, for Pol Bury)
The Arts Club of C hicago Pierre Alechinsky, February

,
26-March 27, 1965. Catalogue with text by Jacques

Busse. Traveled to University Gallery, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, April 7-May 4; The Jewish
Museum, New York, May 1
5 -June
1
Lefebre Gallery, New York Alechinsky: recent works,

,
April 13-May 8, 1965. Catalogue with dialogue be-

tween Jacques Putman and the artist
163
Stcddijk Museum, \msterdam. Met hnisky vi.ihch, ni<;S- 1 i)i>S, March 1 i-April 13, with catalogue with
een kcuzc tut io<; litho's en etsen gemaakt de jaren texts by Karl-Heinz Henng, Luc de Heusch, Chris Yper-
19471965, February [7March 1-, 1966. Catalogue man and the artist; Kunsthalle Bremen, West Germany,
with text bj the artist as Pierre Alechinsky: Gemalde 1958-1968, June 5July
13, with catalogue with texts by Jacques Putman, Jiirgen
I. L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit , Alechinsky, <
'01 italic,
Schultze and the artist
lorn, Reinhoud, March 2.3April 16, 1966
Galene de Montreal Pierre Alechinsky, February 2.5
La Medusa, Rome , Alechinsky, May-June 1966.
,
Apnl 1 2, 1969. Catalogue with text by Pierre Descargues

Catalogue with text by Enrico Crispolti
Galene
The J. L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit , Pierre Alechinsky:
I. a B alaiKc. Bru ssels Alechinsky, Appcl, ,
recent paintings, October 29-November 29, 1969.

Rcinhitud, September 22 October 1 s, i9ii'->
Catalogue
Galene de France, Paris , Alechinsky: ncurics lecentes,
London Arts Ciallerv Alechinsky: astres et desastres,
Nov iber 9, [966January 8, 1967
,
February 19-March 19, 1970. Catalogue with text by

The Mu 1 of Fine Arts, Houston Wash Drawings , h;
Julio Cortazar
Pierre Alechinsky, April 6May 3, 1967
Israel Museum, Jerusalem Drawings and , Prints by
Lefebre Gallery, New York , Alechinsky: recent works, Pierre Alechinsky, April-May 1970. Catalogue with
April 18-May 14, 1967. Catalogue with texts by texts by Yona Fischerand the artist
Jacques Putman and the artist
"
Gallena Rotta, Milan Alechinsky, April , 23-May 23,
Galcrie-Libraine l a Hnne, Paris , Alechinsky: 1111 en-
1970. Catalogue with text by Franco Russoli
semble d'impressions, May 19-June 14, [967
Gallery Nippon, Tokyo Alechinsky,, Voss, Weiss, Sep-
'
Galene van de Loo, Munich Pierre Alechinsky: 10 ,
tember 21-October 10, 1970. Catalogue
jahre unpressionen oeuvrekatalog druckgraphik, Sep-
tember 27-October 23, 1967. Catalogue with text by
Letebre Gallery, New York , Alechinsky: recent paint-
ings and drawings, October 20 November 14, 1970.
Yvon Taillandier. Traveled to Stadtische Kunstgaleric,
Bochum, West Germany, December 22, 1967January
11, E968; Kunstverein Freiburg, March 24-Apnl 21 Galene Birch,Gopenhagen Alechinsky, le plaisir de,
li.ilcne Pialaiue, l'.iussjs, 1'ierre Alechinsky:

peindre, December 2-19, 1970. Catalogue with texts by
I 1 ,1
Borge Birch and Gunnar Jespersen

propos ile Bniche, November 16-Decemher 9, 196-.
Catalogue with text by Ernest Pirotte (pseud, for Pol Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan , Paintings by
Bury) Pierre Alechinsky Sculptures by Reinhoud, March 1
2-
'' Apnl 11, 97 1. Catalogue with
1 texts by Fred A. Myers
Galene Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark Pierre ,
and Jacques Putman

Alechinsky: So Grafiske Ai be]der, January 14-February
1, 1968. Catalogue Gallen Haaken, Oslo Pierre Alechinsky, September 4-
,
October 3, 1971. Catalogue

Galene de Fr an ce, Paris , Pierre Alechinsky: suite
acrylique avec quelques notes concomitantes, March 8- Lens Fine Art, Antwerp Alechinsky, December , 10,
23, 1968. Catalogue with text by the artist 1971-January 29, 1972. Catalogue with text by the
Galene de l'A.P.I.A.W., Liege Pierre Alechinsky: ,
Ideotraces, March 30-Apnl 10, 1968. Catalogue Letebre Gallery, New York Alechinsky: recent , paint-
Letebre Gallery, New York The 11th Pierre Alechinsky

ings and watercolors, March 7 April 1, 1972.
,

exhibition in the United States, November 5- 30, 1968.
Catalogue with text by Julio Cortazar Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture-Novel and Annecy
Action Culturelle, Annecy, France Pierre Alechinsky,
Galerie Birch, Copenhagen Alechinsky, November 7
,
,
Ideotraces, 85 dessins originaux et publications diverses,

16, 1968. Catalogue
May 1-31, 1972. Catalogue with text by the artist
Palais des B eaux Arts, Brussels Pierre Alechinsky, Janu- ,
"
Galene in d er Blutgasse, Vienna, Pierre Alechinsky,
ary 7-February 2, 1969. Traveled to Louisiana Museum
of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark, with catalogue
May 23-June 10, 1972. Catalogue with text by Alfred
Schmeller
with texts by Luc de Heusch and Chris Yperman, Feb-
ruary 14-March 2; Kunstverein fur die Rheinlande und XXXVI Biennale di Veuezia, Belgian Pavilion,
Westfalen, Diisseldorf, as Pierre Alechinsky: Werke Alechinsky, June-September 1972. Catalogue with texts
164
by Julio Cortazar, Joyce Mansour, Willem Sandberg,
Louis Scutenaire, Giorgio Soavi and the artist
( ..drill' ill' 1 i. ll in , I '.ill'.. M<\ I'.'ir l:v ,i 1. 1 livjir. |.lliu.ir\
25-March 18, 1973. Catalogue with text by Joyce

Mansour
"
Galleria del Milione, Milan Pierre Alechinsky.
,
L'Avenir de la Propriete, March 9 April 9, 1973

Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, Alechinsky, April 314,
1973. Catalogue with texts by Borge Birch and the
artist
Lefebre Gallery, New York , The l.efehre collection of

Pierre Alechinsky, September 18-October 13, 1973.
Catalogue with text John Lefebre
Lefebre Gallery, New York, Pierre Alechinsky: recent

paintings and watercolors, October 16-November 10,
1973. Catalogue with text by John Lefebre
Lens Fine Art, Antwerp Alechinsky, November 15, ,
1973-January 12, 1974. Catalogue with text by Ivo

Michiels and the artist
Galerie Stephane |anssen, Brussels, Alcchinskx. ac-

ryliques aquarelles, November 23, 1973January 26,
1974. Catalogue
Musee Royal d'Art Moderne, Brussels, Alechinsky:

cent vingt dessins, donation de I'artiste, December 14,
1973-January 6, 1974. Catalogue with texts by Fran-
cine-Claire Legrand and Philippe Roberts-Jones
Mathilden ho he, Darmstadt Pierre Alechinsky, June 8- ,
July 21, 1974. Catalogue with text by Bernd krimmel

and the artist
Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark,

Alechinsky, September 14-October 13, 1974.
Catalogue with text by Gunnar Jespersen
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam ,
Alechinsky, November 15, 1974- January 5, 1975.

Catalogue with texts by Roger Caillois, Amos Kenan,
Jacques Lassaigne and the artist. Traveled to Musee
d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, February 5 April 6
:>
Le Miroir d'Encre, Brussels, Epreuves d 'artiste,
With Henri Michaux, Joyce Mansour, November 19-December 19, 1974. Catalogue
Elisa Breton, Musee d'Art Moderne de Galeria Turner, Madrid Alechinsky, February 28-
,
la Ville de Pans, 1975

March ?I) I9?5 Catalogue with text by Antonio Saura
Kunsthaus Zurich Pierre Alechinsky, April 27-June

, 1,
1975. Catalogue with texts by Michel Butor, Antonio

Saura, R. Wehrh and the artist
Munich Alechinsky I9~i,

Galerie va n de Lou, ,
December 4 23, 1975. Catalogue

Maison de la Culture de Chalon-sur-Saone, France, La
terre et les volcans, Alechinsky, November 1975-Janu-
165
an t
97 6. ( atalogue with texts by Michel Butor, Jules tember 9; Amos Anderson Konstmuseum, Helsinki,
Verne, Alexandre Vialatte, the artist et al. Traveled to 1979; Sonia Henies og Niels Onstads Stiftelser, Hovik-
Musee Municipal des Beaux-Arts, I ahors, France, [uly koden, Norway, December 1979-Jaiiu.irv 1 5, [980;
z-September 4 Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, France, June 22-August 1
*
Alechinsky a I'imprimerie (organized hy Musee Galerie Van de Loo, Munich Pierre Alechinsky: Vieux ,
National d'Art Moderne, Pans), traveled in France, papiers, November 1978. Catalogue with text by the
1975-79. (. atalogue
Copenhagen Alechinsky: travaux

Galerie Birch, , rares,
'
Galerie Omme, Silkehorg, Denmark Pierre Alechin- ,
March 3-12, 19-6. Catalogue sky: Graphik, February 1

--March 17, 1979
Lefebre Gallery, New York , "'The color of time" ;o Galerie Espace, Amsterdam Alechinsky, , April --May
aquarelles and 4 large brushdrawmgi by Alechinsky, 27, 1979- Catalogue
March 9-April 10, 1976. Catalogue with text by Harrv
Galerie Birch, I openhagen Alechinsky: , "Articles
Torczyner
suivis, " April-May 1979. Catalogue
Arte Fiera 76, Galerie de France, Bologna Alechinsky, ,
Galerie Rolf Ohse, Bremen , Pierre Alechinsky: Vieux

May 2.2.-30, 1976. Catalogue
Papiers Aquarelles 19771978, May 4-June 9, 1979.
'
Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, Halifax , Catalogue with text by the artist
Alechinsky, June 6-30, 1977- Catalogue
Chapelle de la Charite, Aries , Alechinsky & Reinhoud,
Galerie de France, Pans Alechinsky: grandes encres et
, June 30-September 16, 1979. Catalogue with text by-
petits tableaux, en compagme de quelques sculptures: Jacques Putman

Reinhoud, June 7-July 30, 1977. Catalogue with text by
Galerie Albertstrasse, Graz, Austria Pierre Alechinsky, ,
Freddy de Vree
September 1 3 -October 31, 1979
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh ,
Lefebre Gallery, New York Pierre Alechinsky: paint- ,
Alechinsky, October 28, 1977-January 8, 1978.

ings on paper and three monumental etchings, October
Catalogue with texts by Leon A. Arkus, Eugene Ionesco
9-November to, 1979. Catalogue with text by Carlos
and the artist. Traveled to Art Gallery of Ontario,
Fuentes
March 10-April 20
'
Galerie L'Ollave, Lyon Alechinsky: lithographies

,
Lefebre Gallery, New York , Alechinsky, November 1-

recentes, January 10-February 2, 1980. Catalogue with
December 3, 1977. Catalogue
text by Jean Raine
Lens Fine Art, Antwerp Pierre Alechinsky, December
, 8, "
Sara Campbell Blatter Gallery, University of Houston ,
19-7-January 21, 1978. Catalogue
Pierre Alechinsky: A Print Retrospective (organized by
'
Kaneko Art Gallery, Tokyo , Pierre Alechinsky, 1977. The Museum of Modern Art, New York), January 1 1
Catalogue February 24, 1980. Catalogue with text by Riva Castle-
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Potn-
man. Traveled to San Jose Museum of Art, May 14-
pidou. Pans Dessins d'Alechinsky, July
, 1 1- September June 29; Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State
1 1, 1978. Catalogue with texts by Pierre Georgel, Mar- University, September 24-November 2; Art Gallery of
cel Lecomte and the artist. Traveled to Dordrechts Mu- Hamilton, Ontario, December 1, 1980-January 1 1,
seum, The Netherlands, September 23-November 12 1981; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, February 27-
April 1 2; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, June
Loranger Gallery, Toronto Alechinsky, March , 1 1-
10-August 1 1
April 20, 1978

Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City Pierre ,
Galerie de France, Paris Appel et Alechinsky: Encres a

,
Alechinsky, April 29-July 1980. Catalogue with texts
deux pmceaux, October 12-November 30, 1978. Appel
by Carlos Fuentes, Fernando Gamboa and the artist
et Alechinsky: lucres a deux pmceaux et leurs poemes
par Hugo Claus, Yves Riviere-A.M.G., Pans, 1978, with Galerie Maeght, Paris Travaux d'impression, prmci-
,
text by Christian Dotremont and poems by Hugo Claus palement, March 5 April 30, 1980. Catalogue with text
published as catalogue. Traveled to Musee d'lxelles, by Georges Duby
Brussels, January 16- February 25, 1979; Musee des Galerie Maeght, Zurich Alechinsky, October , 9-
Beaux-Arts, Ostend, 1979; Dordrechts Museum, The November 30, 1980. Catalogue with texts by Eugene
Netherlands, May 1 i-|une 30; Louisiana Museum of Ionesco and the artist
Modern Art, Humlehaek, Denmark, August 16-Sep-
166
Kestner Gesellschatt. Hannover Pierre Alechinsky: Bil- , Letebre Gallery. New York Alechinsky. February' 14
.
der, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen: eine Retrospektive, March 1

7, 19S4. Catalogue with texts by Michel Butor,
November --December 7, 19 So. Caralogue with texts Michel Sicard and the artist
bv Roger Caillois. Julio Cortazar. Christian Dotremont, Kaneko Art Gallery, Tokvo Pierre Alechinsky, April 9-
,
Carlos Fuentes, Carl Haenlein, Eugene Ionesco, Antonio

Saura and the artist
Renault Art et Industrie, Abbave de Senanque, Gordes,
Lens Fine Art. Antwerp Pierre Alechinsky, April zMay
,
France Alechinsky: encres et peintures 19S1-19S4,
,
17, 1981. Catalogue May 22-September 1984. Alechinsky: frontieres et

3,
Lefgbre Gallerv. N'ew York Alechinsky, June , 1 6-July 2, bordures. Editions Galilee, Pans, 1984, with texts by
September S-October io, 1981. Catalogue Michel Butor, Michel Sicard and the artist, published as
catalogue
Calligrammes Gallery. Ottawa Alechinsky, June 25- ,
Julv27, I9S1 Galerie Maeght Lelong. FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris , En-
cres a bordures: Alechinsky, October 1928, 1984.
Galene Maeght. Paris . Alechinsky: encres stir cartes de
Catalogue with text by Max Loreau
navigation et peintures de I'annee, October 8 Novem-
ber 16, 1981. Catalogue. Derriere le Miroir, no. 14-. Le Mejan. Aries Alechinsky: Pages . et feuilles, April 13
with texts by Jean Fremon and Antonio Saura May 30. 1985
Letebre Gallery. New York . Pierre Alechinsky: ink over Galene Birch. Copenhagen Pierre Alechinsky: pieces .
maps 6~ charts, October 13-November 14, 1981. Cata- uniques, May 2-15, 1985. Catalogue
logue with texts by James Johnson Sweeney and the Galerie van de Loo. Munich . Pierre Alechinsky: encrier
artist
de voyage. May 2-June 5, 1985. Catalogue with text by
'
Louis Calder Memorial Library. Miami , Pierre the artist
Alechinsky: A Print Retrospective, May 1 June 30, Gana Gallerv. Seoul Alechinsky. . May 1018, 1985.
1982. Catalogue Catalogue
'
Galeria Sloane Racotta. Mexico Citv Alechinsky, June .
Maison de la Culture de La Rochelle et du Centre-
17-July 9, 1982. Catalogue with texts by Alberto Quest, La Rochelle. France. Pi m Alechinsky. June 15-
Gironella and the artist
August 31, 1985. Catalogue with texts by Claude
''
Galerie Moderne. Silkeborg. Denmark , Pierre Hudelot and the artist
Alechinsky, October 230, 1982
Musee d'Art et d'Histoire. Metz. France Alechinsky: ,
Galene Birch. Copenhagen Alechinsky: Flora Danica,

.
encres et peintures a bordures. November 22 December
November 16 December 1, 1982. Catalogue with text 15, 1985. Catalogue with text by Pierre Descargues
by Henrik Bramsen Letebre Gallerv. New York 1 Years Eefebre Gallery:
. j
Fondation Maeght. Saint- Paul-de-Vence. France Appel .

Pierre Alechinsky, April i-May 17, 1986. Catalogue
et Alechinsky: encres a deux pinceaux, peintures, etc., with texts by Julio Cortazar and the artist
December iS, 1982January 30, 19S3. Catalogue with Galerie Maeght Lelong. Pans . Pierre Alechinsky:
texts by Christian Dotremont, Claude Esteban and the Bouches et Grilles, April 29-July 27, 1986. Catalogue
artist and poems by Hugo Claus. Traveled to Musee with text by Pierre Descargues
Saint-Georges, Liege, October 28-December 4, 1983
'
Arteurial. Pans Alechinsky: epreuves devenues
. rares.
Museo Espanol de Arte Conternp* Madrid, Pierre May 13June 1986
7,
Alechinsky, Alberto Gironella, "Al Alimon, " May 20-
"
Galleri Torso, Odense, Denmark Alechinsky, June 7
.
June 1983. Catalogue with texts by Jose Allyon, Julio
Cortazar, Salvador Elizondo, Carlos Fuentes, Fernando
July 5 , 1986
Gamboa, Octavio Paz, Juan Rulfo, Antonio Saura and Luxembourg Alechinsky,
Galerie Lea. Gredt. .
the artist November -December 14, 1986

Galerie M, Hannover Les Arrondissements de Paris,
.
'
Galene La Hune. Paris Poemes a voir .
jean Tardieu,
November 10-December 18, 1983. Catalogue with text Pierre Alechinsky, January 13-February 11, 198-
by Jiirgen Schulrze
Maeght Lelong.
Galerie New York . Alechinsky. March
Galerie Espace. Amsterdam Encrier de voyage, De-
, 27-May 9, 19S-
cember 13, 1983-January 2.1, 1984. Catalogue with
texts bv Michel Butor and Michel Sicard
167
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Joyce Mansour, Le Bleu des fonds, Le Soleil Noir, Paris,
1968
Achille Chavee, .4;/ demeurant. Daily Biil, La Louviere,
BY THE ARTIST Belgium, 1969
Titrcs et pams perdus, Denoel, Pans, 1965
Michel Butor, Hoine-Voirie, Olivetti, Milan, 1970
Identifies, Denoel, Paris, 1966
Joyce Mansour, Astres et desastres. The London Art
he Tout Veuant, Galeae de France, Paris, 1966 Gallery, London, 1970
Le test dit titre, Eric Losfeld, Pans, 1967 Louis Scutenaire, Pointes, Georges Visat, Paris, 1972.
Ting's Studio, Les Poquettes volantes, Daily Bui, La Jean-Clarence Lambert, Laborinthe, Georges Fall, Paris,
Louviere, Belgium, 1967 1973

Roue libre, Les senders de la creation, Albert Skira, Roger Caillois, Un Mannequin sur le trottoir, Yves
Geneva, 1971 Riviere, Paris, 1974
L' Auenir de la propnete, Yves Riviere, Pans, 1973 P. A. Benoit, Entre le police et I'index, P.A.B., Ales,
Far Rockaway, Fata Morgana, Montpellier, 1977

1975
Michel Butor, Rive de I'ammonite, Fata Morgana,
Alechinsky: Peintures et ecrtts, Yves Riviere-A.M.G.,
Montpellier, 1975
Paris,1977, and Alechinsky: Paintings and Writings,
Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1977. Preface by Eugene Yves Bonnefoy, Par experience, F.B., Paris, 1976
Ionesco
Michel Butor and Jean-Yves Bosseur, Materiel pour un
Le bureau du titre. Fata Morgana, Montpellier, 1983 Don Juan, La Louve de l'hiver, Losnes, 1977
Ensortileges, Fata Morgana, Montpellier, 1983 Jorge Luis Borges, Treize poetries, translated by Roger
Caillois, Fata Morgana, Montpellier, 1978
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS Marcel and Gabriel Piqueray, Monument Tobacco,
Marcel Lecomte, Le Sens des tarots, E.N.S.A.A.D.,
Y'ves Riviere, Paris, 1978
Brussels, 1948 E.-M. Cioran, Vacillations, Fata Morgana, Montpellier,
Luc de Heusch, Les Metiers, E.N.S.A.A.D., Brussels,

1979
1948. Reprinted Pans, 1979 Andre Frenaud, La Vie comme elle tourne, Maeght,
Pans, 1979
Hugo Claus, Zander vorm van Process, Draak, Brussels,
1950 Pol Bury,Le Derisoire absolu, Daily Bui, La Louviere,
Belgium, 1980
Christian Dotremont, Vues, Laponie, Brussels, 1957.
With Karel Appel, Corneille and Asger Jorn Joyce Mansour, Le Grand /annus, Maeght, Paris, 1981.
With Matta
Christian Dotremont, La Reine des murs, Galene de
France, Paris, i960 Jean-Michel Reynard, Maint corps des cbambres,
Maeght, Paris, 198
Christian Dotremont, Mot qui j'avais, Girard, Paris, 196
Y'ves Bonnefoy, L'Excedante, F.B., Pans, 1982
Amos Kenan, adapted by Chnstiane Rochefort, Les
tireurs de langae, Fratelli Pozzo, Turin, 196 Georges Duby, "Papiers traites," Calendrier 1984, La
Pierre d'Alun, Brussels, 1983
Amos Kenan, A la gare, Grafica Uno, Milan, 1962
Andre Balthazar, La Personne du singulier, Daily Bui,
Jacques Dupin, De singes et de mouches, Fata Morgana,
Montpellier, 1983
La Louviere, Belgium, 1973
Gilbert Lascault, Arrondissements, Reperes, Daniel
WalasseTing, U
Life, Kornfeld, Zurich, 1964. With
Lelong, Paris, 1983
Karel Appel, Alan Davie, Asger Jorn, Roy Lichtenstein,
Robert Rauschenberg, Bram van Velde et al. Camille Bryen, Mots bavards, P.A.B., Ales, 1984
Joyce Mansour, Carre blanc, Le Soleil Noir, Paris, 1965 Michel Butor, Le Men rot, Reperes, Daniel Lelong,
Pans, 1985
Communication: 16 manifestations d'hypertrophie cal-
ligraplnque. Daily Bui, La Louviere, Belgium, 1967 Michel Butor and Michel Sicard, ABC de correspon-
dance, Reperes, Daniel Lelong, Pans, 1986
Francois Nourissier, De la mort, La Balance, Brussels,
1967 Jean Tardieu, Poemes a voir, RLD, Pans, 1986
Julio Cortazar, Histoire des < 'ronopiens et des Fameux, Jean Tardieu, Carta Cant a, RLD, Paris, 1987
Les Poquettes volantes, Daily Bui, La Louviere, Belgium,
168
MONOGRAPHS
Luc Zangrie (pseud, for Luc de Heusch), Alechinsky, Les
Artistes libres, vol. i, Bibliotheque de Cobra,
Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 1950
Jacques Putman, Pierre Alechinsky, Fratclli Fabbn,
Milan, Odege, Paris, 1967
Alain Bosquet, Alechinsky, Le Musee de Poche, Pans,

1971
Les estampes de 1946 a 1972, Yves Riviere, Paris, 1973.
Catalogue raisonne
Freddy de Vree, Alechinsky, Kunstpocket, no. 3, Schel-

derode, Belgium, 1976
Jean-Clarence Lambert, Central Park, Yves Riviere,

Paris, 1976
Appel et Alechinsky: Encres a deux pinceaux et leurs
poemes par Hugo Claus, Yves Riviere-A.M.G., Paris,
1978. Preface by Christian Dotremont
Hugo Claus, Treize manieres de regarder un fragment

d' Alechinsky, Ziggurat, Antwerp, 1979
Michel Butor and Michel Sicard, Alechinsky: Frontieres

et bordures, Collection Renault Art et Industrie, Edi-
tions Galilee, Paris, 1984
Max Loreau, Alechinsky, Reperes no. 16, Daniel
Lelong, Paris, 1984
Michel Butor and Michel Sicard, Alechinsky dans le
texte, Editions Galilee, Paris, 1985

Pierre Descargues, Alechinsky, bouches et grilles, Re-
peres no. 29, Daniel Lelong, Paris, 1986
Lefebre Gallery 1960-86: Alechinsky, Suite of 18

catalogues, New York, 1986
ON COBRA
Willemi]n Stokvis, Cobra, De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1974
Cobra 1948-1911, Jean-Michel Place, Paris, 1980. Re-

prints of publications and documents, including
"Cobra, qu'est-ce que c'est?," by Christian Dotremont
Jean-Clarence Lambert, Cobra: un art libre, Fonds Mer-

cator, Antwerp, Le Chene, Paris, 1983, and Cobra,
trans. Roberta Bailey, New York, Abbeville Press, 1983
Christian Dotremont, Isabelle, texts on Cobra 1948-

1978, La Pierre d'Alun, Brussels, 1985
Bougival, 1;
169
PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS
COLOR
Christian Andersen: cat. no. 74
David Aschkenas: cat. no. 40

Courtesy Norman and Irma Braman: cat. no. 61
Courtesy Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre

Georges Pompidou, Paris: cat. no. 9
David Heald: cover, cat. no. 48

David Heald and Myles Aronowitz: cat. no. 29
Courtesy Lefebre Gallery, New York: cat. no. 43

Mirko Lion: cat. no. 25
Courtesy Louisiana Museum of Modern Art,

Humlebaek, Denmark: cat. no. 32
1987, Daniel J. Martinez: cat. no. 7
Courtesy Gallene Maeght Lelong, Paris: cat. no. 8
Eric Mitchell: cat. no. 1
Andre Morain: nos. 23, 3, 59, 4-
75. 8z
O. E. Nelson: cat. nos. 44, 45
Thomas Peder: and Poul Pedersen: cat. no. 21
BLACK AND WHITE

Myles Aronowitz: cat. nos. 89, 90, 92, 94, 98, 99, 100,
103, 108
David Heald: cat. nos. 88, 91, 93, 95, 96, 104, 106
Galerie de France, Paris: cat. no. 10
Andre Morain: cat. nos. 4-6, 8, 19, 24, 26-28, 31, 4
57-60, 63, 66-72, 76, 77, 80, 81, 83, 84, 107
Courtesy Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre
Georges Pompidou, Paris: cat. no. 2
Otto E. Nelson: cat. nos. 3, 12
Michel Nguyen, Galerie Maeght Lelong, Paris: cat.

nos. 14-18, 65, 85, 87
Mounting of Past Unnoticed, Gust of

Wind in progress, Bougival, 1 98 1
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D E P UT Y D I R E CT O R Diane Waldman
ADMINISTRATOR William M. Jackson
STAF F Vivian Endicott Barnett, Curator; I ivi Den m son, Susan B. Hirschtcld, Assistant ( urators; t arol Fuerstein, Fditor; Sonja Bay,
Librarian; Wars! fackson, Archivist; I liana Murphy, Assistant Editor; Sus.ni lapgood, uratorial oordinator; Thomas Padon,
I ( (
Nina Nathan Schroeder, Cornelia Lauf, Curatorial Assistants

Louise Averill Svciulscn, Curator Emeritus
Chene A. Summers, Registrar; Jane Rubin, Kathleen M. Hill, Associate Registrars; Lon Schafer, Registrar's Assistant; Saul
Fuerstein, Preparator; David M. Veater, Assistant Preparator; William Smith, Am Gonzalez Rivera, Preparation Assistants;
Huh bard Toombs, I cchnical Services ( oordin.iror; 1 cm Porolt. Assoc mil ( onscrv.iror, * .ilh.in Ms Mi 1 in. Jc.ui
1. Rossion,
Assistant Conservators; Scott A. Wixon, ( )pexations Manager; Dennis Schoelerman, Assistant Operations Manager; Takayuki
Amano, Head Carpenter; David M. Heald, Photographer; Myles Aronowitz, Assistant Photographer; Regina O'Brien,
Photography Coordinator
Mimi Poser, Officer for Development and Public Affairs; Carolyn Porcelh, John T. Landi, Development Associates; Elizabeth K.
Lawson, Membership Associate; Holly C. Evarts, Public Affairs Associate; Shannon Wilkinson, Public Affairs Coordinator;
Linda Germg, Special Events Associate, Mildred Wolkow, >c\ lopmenl l oordinator; C Lire Pauline Bell, Dcnise Bouche,
I r
Membership Assistants; Sarah Everett 1 ee, Public Allans Assistant; Ann Varney, Development Assistant; Dawn Holt, Computer
Coordinator
Agnes R. Connolly, Auditor; Stefanie Levmson, Sales Manager; John Phillips, Assistant Saks Manager; Marguerite Vigliante,
Trade Sales Assistant; Maria Masciotti. Manager of t ate and ( a re ring; Fred Lee, Assistant Manager ot Cafe and Catering; Aim
Paul, Mail Clerk; Irene Mulligan, Switch board I Operator; Mvro Ri/nyk, Building Manager. Domingo Maklonado, Assistant
Building Manager; Robert S. I lot 7, t hie! ot Security ; 1 I bio Ainu ion, Marie Bradle) , Carlos Rosado, Assistant Security
Ann Kraft, Executive Associate; Jill Snyder, Administrative Coordinator; Julia Voigt, Assistant to the Administrator; Elisabeth
Hodermarskv, Administrative Assistant
LIFE MEMBERS Jean K. Beniamin, Irvin Blum, Mr. and Mrs. B. Gerald Cantor, Eleanor, Countess Castle Stewart, Mr. and Mrs. Barrie M.
Damson, Mr. and Mrs. Werner Dannheisser. ].icc|uclinc llrvtoos, William ( Edwards, Jr., Donald M. leuersrein, Mr. and Mrs. .
Andrew P. Fuller, Agnes Gund, Susan Morse Hilles, Mr. and Mrs. Morton L. Janklow, Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Jonas, Mr. and
Mrs. Seymour M. Klein, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lawson- Johnston, Mr .m^t Mrs. Alexander iberman, Rook Met ulloch, Mr. and 1
Mrs. Thomas M. Messer, Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Mnucbin, Mr. and Mrs Irving Moskovuv, Fli/.ibcrh Hastings Peterfreund,
Mrs. Samuel 1. Rosenman, Clifford Ross, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew M. Saul, Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph B. Schulhof, Mrs. Evelyn Sharp,
Mrs. Leo Simon, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Simon, Sidney Singer, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Swid, Mrs. Hilde Thannhauser,
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen S. Weisglass, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Zierler
INSTITUTIONAL Owen Cheatham Foundation, Exxon Corporation, Ford Motor

Alcoa Foundation, Atlantic Richfield Foundation, The
PATRONS Company, Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust, Knoll International, The Kresge Foundation, L. A. W. Fund. Robert
Lehman Foundation, The Andrew Mellon Foundation, Mobil corporation, Montedison .roup. Philip Morris Incorporated,
t (
Regione Veneto, United Technologies Corporation
Institute ot Museum Services, National Endowment lor the Arts, National FiiLlowment tor the Humanities, New York State
Council on the Arts
173
Exhibition 87/1
5000 copies of this catalogue, designed by Malcolm Grear Designers
and typeset by Sehooley Graphics/Prime Line Phototype,

have been printed by Eastern Press in January 1987 for
the Trustees of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on the
occasion of the exhibition Pierre Alechinsky: Margin and Center.
I 74
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M*fflINT'A ECRM
PRATIQUES
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176
A
A i. K. N6973.A4A4 1987
Pierre Alechinsky
Alcchinskv. Pierre,
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Pierre A Lech in Sky 00 Alec

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Pierre Alechinsky: Margin and Center

Pierre Alechinsky: Margin and Center

This exhibition has received generous support from the

Commissariat General aux Relations Internationales

de la Communaute Francaise de Belgique, Brussels,

and the Association Francaise d'Action Artistique,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publn

Alechinsky, Pierre, 1927-

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Solomon

1. Alechinsky, Pierre, 1927- Exhibitions.

N6973.A4A4 1987 760'. 092^ 86-31380

Drawings reproduced throughout the catalogue which are not in the

exhibition are from Pierre Alechinsky, he bureau du titre, Fata

Morgana, Montpellier, 1983; Gilbert Lascault, Arrondissements, Reperes,

Published by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, 1987

Copyright 1987 by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York

Lenders to the Exhibition 7

Preface and Acknowledgments Thomas M. Messer 8

Central Park Octavio Paz 10

Bordering on Something Central Pierre Alechinsky and Michael Gibson 15

Works in the Exhibi 33

Selected Exhibitions 156

Selected Bibliography 168

Photographic Credits 171

Micky and Pierre Alechinsky

Norman and Irma Braman

Jerome and Marlene Brody

Mr. and Mrs. Michel David- Weill, New York

Mr. and Mrs. Melvin A. Colder

General-Major Aviateur P. de Groof, Brussels

Michel Guy, Pans

Stephane Janssen, Beverly Hills

Joyce and Samir Mansour, Paris

Meridian Partners, Inc., New York

Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Mindhn

Jacques Putman, Paris

Mr. and Mrs. J. Karel P. van Stuijvenberg, Caracas

Baroness Van Zuylen

The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

Museum Ludwig, Cologne

The State Museums of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg

Lens Fine Art, Antwerp

Galerie Birch, Copenhagen

Galerie Maeght Lelong, Paris

Such expectations were fulfilled in part by the surviving Parisian demi-

Cobra has long since been recognized as a meaningful chapter in the

of his powers, this exhibition thus becomes an acknowledgment of the

The exhibition theme, Marginand Center, was formulated during ex-

The contributors to the present catalogue, Michael Gibson and Octavio

sistant Curator, who was instrumental in selecting the exhibition and

involved with many aspects of the exhibition and catalogue.

My final word of thanks is addressed to the artist, with whom I have

Thomas M. Messer, Director

Green and black thickets, bare spots,