Pierre Alechinsky : (1927-) is a Belgian artist, who lives and works in France since 1951. His work is related to "tachisme", abstract expressionism, and lyrical abstraction. In 1944 he attended the Ecole nationale supérieure d'Architecture et des Arts décoratifs de La Cambre in Brussels where he studied illustration techniques, printing and photography. In 1949 he joined Christian Dotremont, Karel Appel, Constant, Jan Nieuwenhuys and Asger Jorn to form the art group Cobra. In 1954 he had his first exhibition in Paris and started to become interested in oriental calligraphy. In 1955 he left for Japan with his wife. By 1960 he had exhibited in London, Bern and at the Venice Biennial, and then in Pittsburgh, New York, Amsterdam and Silkeborg as his international reputation grew. He worked with Walasse Ting and continued to be close to Christian Dotremont. He also spent time with André Breton. His international career continued throughout the seventies. His works are held in the collections of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Tate, London, the Museum Ludwig in Köln, the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.