2018 Præmium Imperiale Laureate - Pierre Alechinsky, Painting | JAPAN Forward

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Pierre Alechinsky is an international contemporary artist, born in Brussels in 1927. He studied illustration techniques and typography at La Cambre school, Brussels. In 1949 he joined the avant-garde art group "CoBrA" (1948-1951) and then moved to Paris. He had a close relationship with Shiryu Morita, the leader of the Bokubi group of calligraphers (Kyoto). He visited Japan for the first time in 1955 and made a documentary film: Japanese Calligraphy. Influenced by Walasse Ting, whom he met in Paris in 1954, he started to use India ink and Chinese pinsels. In 1965 he began working with acrylic painting with marginalia, on paper mounted on canvas. In 1977 he received the Andrew W. Mellon Prize at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Since the 1950's he has developed a remarkable body of print work (etchings, lithographs). Many museum shows around the world have demonstrated the richness and variety of his work. Recently, he received French citizenship. During 2016-17, he held his first large-scale retrospective exhibitions in Tokyo and Osaka, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Japan. He is the first Belgian and French recipient of the Praemium Imperiale.
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