Pierre Alechinsky, a Belgian artist know worldwide. New-york, Paris, Valencia, Madrid, Osaka, Tokyo and now in Brussels with a solo exhibition at Villa Empain. The building itself is a gem. An elegant Art Deco building dating from 1930, designed by Swiss architect Michel Polak for Baron Louis Empain.
The baron himself hardly ever lived there. The villa has had a turbulent history. It was sold, rented out and eventually bought back by the Baron, who then donated it to the Belgian government. In 1980, the villa, which was in a deplorable state, was purchased by the Boghossian Foundation. Thanks to their renovation, the villa has regained its grandeur. If you can’t get to the Alechinsky exhibition, be sure to visit another exhibition or go there just for the building. It’s really worth it.
Pierre Alechinsky, born (19/10/1927) to a Jewish-Russian father and Belgian Walloon mother, studied typography and book illustration at the École nationale supérieure d’Architecture et des Arts décoratifs (La Cambre, Brussels)
He is a painter, engraver and an artist. He was also part of the CoBrA-group. (Copenhagen-Brussels-Amsterdam)
In 1955 he went for an immersive trip to Japan to meet the master calligraphers. Only black ink and intimate brushes strokes on paper are needed to create small pieces of art. After his study trip, the use of ink became dominant in his creations, a medium he handled with flexibility and expressiveness. He is a prolific artist and the villa is limited in space, so it makes sense that only a selection of his extensive oeuvre is on display. But what was on display was absolutely wonderful. From his colourful paintings to his Japanese-inspired mixed calligraphy drawings.
And what’s even better is that there are still affordable works for sale at some galleries. Maybe it’s time to pay them visit too…
